An Iraqi migrant who voluntarily registered for an evacuation flight from Belarus arrives at Erbil International Airport in Erbil, Iraq, on November 26, 2021, at Erbil International Airport, Erbil, Iraq. REUTERS Azad Lashkari File Photo
MOSCOW, Dec 4 Reuters -- More than 400 migrants who had travelled to Belarus to cross the border into the EU flew home on Saturday on an Iraqi Airways plane bound for the city of Erbil in northern Iraq, Minsk's airport said.
The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus on Thursday after accusing it of bringing in migrants from the Middle East and pushing them to illegally cross the Polish border to make a crisis, something Minsk denies. Minsk airport authorities said a Boeing 747-400 aircraft would fly 415 adults and four children on Saturday to Erbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region. The flight was later listed as having left, according to the airport's website.
Iraqis who fled for economic opportunity and political asylum began returning to their country last month, having failed to get into the EU via a route promised by people smugglers. Russia, which supported Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's government during mass street protests last year, on Saturday criticised the EU sanctions as illegal and said the issue should be settled through dialogue.