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The first repatriation of migrants stranded at Belarus’ border with the European Union took place on Thursday, November 18. Iraqis, who had paid thousands of dollars to try to enter the EU, have returned home.
It is the end of the Belarusian ordeal for more than 400 migrants Thursday, November 18. They embark on the first repatriation flight organized by the Iraqi state. All of them are volunteering to return home. “I am tired”, says one of them from Minsk airport. They are all Iraqis, mostly Kurds. They spent several weeks in Belarus in the forest along the Polish border. Their dream of Europe is gone. “It’s impossible to go to Poland. We’re going back and we’re going to try another way”, insures a migrant. “I spent more than 7,000 euros “, deplores another.
About 430 migrants are said to have been repatriated on Thursday. For the thousands who remain who say they know Belarus is using them, a hangar was opened on Wednesday to accommodate them. The place is already saturated. Some migrants do not want to return to their country, others do not know what to do. This population is exhausted by weeks of wandering along the Polish border.