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Iraq is preparing its first repatriation flight this week for Iraqi migrants stranded on the Belarus-Poland border amid a growing crisis that the EU claims was planned by Minsk.
A Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman says the country will provide a voluntary return flight to Baghdad on Thursday for its citizens detained in Belarus.
EU foreign ministers meet Monday at negotiating new sanctions against Belarus, which he deliberately opposes attracting migrants to its borders as part of a bloc crackdown on retaliation for aiding political opposition in Belarus.
The new sanctions could target airlines, travelers and others who support the movement of migrants in Belarus, EU High Commissioner Josep Borrell said ahead of the meeting.
Most of the refugees trying to enter the EU from Belarus come from the Middle East.
Refugees are living in makeshift shelters and in log cabins near thornbushes guarded by thousands of Polish soldiers. But despite the cold, many do not return home.
On Monday, several hundred refugees gathered on the border of Belarus and Poland near the village of Kuznica. Polish police say the refugees were led there by Belarusian soldiers who falsely told them they would be taken to Germany.
“It looks like preparations for another attempt to cross Poland’s borders by force,” Stanislaw Zaryn, a spokesman for Poland’s security minister, wrote on Twitter.
On Sunday, Borrell discussed the issue with Belarussian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei – the EU’s first high-level talks with Minsk since President Alexander Lukashenko violently suppressed protests against his fraudulent election last summer.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin had spoken to Lukashenko and German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the situation in anticipation of talks.
Lukasjenko, who declined to discuss post-election disruption with Merkel last year, has repeatedly said the EU should negotiate directly with him to resolve the crisis.
Direct flights from Baghdad to Minsk were suspended in August. Travel via Turkey was suspended Friday for citizens of Iraq, Yemen and Syria. Syrian private plane shut down a plane on Saturday. Travel via Dubai was closed for migrants on Monday.
Recent developments have reduced the number of migrants in Belarus, Borrell of the EU said Monday.
Amidst the turmoil in Europe, with Russia and Belarus training last week near the Polish-occupied Polish border, Lukasjenko said Monday that Minsk was trying to persuade migrants to return home.
“We are doing everything we can to make this camp non-existent and for those who want to, join the EU,” Lukashenko said. “And for those who do not want to, we are ready to put them all on a plane. . . it will lead them back home. ”
He also said that Belarus was ready to fly to Munich if Germany and Poland agreed.
The sanctions scheduled for Monday will strengthen those already deported to Belarus authorities over last year’s crash and forced the Ryanair flight to Minsk in May, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said. “Severe financial penalties”, which target aircraft, are also “inevitable,” Maas said.
Lukashenko threatened to suspend the sanctions by sending gas to Europe. But Russia, which supplies gas, has said it will not improve travel, adding that any move to Minsk could damage relations between the two allies. Moscow has also denied any involvement in the migration crisis.
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