Hundreds of Iraqis fly home from Belarus as border crisis subsides

But the standoff is increasingly devolving into a humanitarian crisis with late autumn temperatures dipping below freezing. Thousands of the refugees had been camping out in a forest near the border crossing before Belarus bussed some to a nearby warehouse on Wednesday.

It’s unclear what will happen to those who do not wish to be repatriated, or if Belarusian authorities plan to send them back to the border in the coming days.

The refugees that make it across into Poland and are caught are often deported even if they claim asylum, a practice legalized by Poland last month even though it runs contrary to international law.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter that the bloc is mobilizing nearly $800,000 to deliver food, blankets, hygiene and first aid kits to the refugees on the border.

“We are ready to do more. But the Belarusian regime must stop luring people and putting their lives at risk,” von der Leyen said.

Belarusian officials said they plan to offer the Chinese Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine to the refugees, according to Russian state news agency RIA.

For months, Belarus has opened routes for the migrants to reach the E.U.’s eastern borders, and the bloc has accused Belarus of orchestrating the flows of migrants to the frontier.

In videos published to social media, armed Belarusian guards have been seen escorting hundreds of migrants toward its border with Poland. The Belarus border committee said in a statement this week that they “arrived at the Belarusian-Polish border on their own to join the spontaneous refugee camp. For the safety of the people, Belarusian soldiers accompanied the group to the location of the camp, in order to avoid provocations from the Polish side.”

Iraqi Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed al-Sahaf told Iraqi television earlier this week that the government would organize a first repatriation flight on Thursday for those who “wish to return voluntarily.”

Amid the recent border crisis, many air links between the Middle East and Minsk have now either been suspended or are not carrying passengers who are citizens of certain Middle Eastern countries.

Belarusian state airline Belavia, which is expected to be a target of upcoming E.U. sanctions, announced Thursday that it has stopped allowing citizens from Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Yemen to board flights from Uzbekistan’s Tashkent to Minsk, according to the state BelTA news agency.

Mary Ilyushina in Moscow and Louisa Loveluck in London contributed to this report.