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Iraqi Airways plans four repatriation flights from Minsk on Thursday, Friday

Earlier, Belarusian aviation authorities coordinated a flight operated by Iraqi Airways to repatriate Iraqi nationals from Belarus who were among those trying to get into the EU across the Belarusian border

MINSK, November 25./TASS/. Iraqi Airways plans four repatriation flights from Minsk, Belarus, on November 25 and 26, the press service of the Minsk airport reports.

"According to updated information, four repatriation flights to Iraq are scheduled for November 25, 26. Iraqi Airways planes are expected to arrive today at 19:15, 19:45 and 20:15 (same time in Moscow), and one more arrival at the national airport is scheduled for 02:15 (on November 26)," the press service said.

"Takeoffs from Minsk for Iraq are planned for 20:15, 20:45, 21:15 (November 25) and 03:15 (November 26). According to the online board on the website of the airport, all flights will head to Erbil," the press service said.

Earlier, Belarusian aviation authorities coordinated a flight on November 25 operated by Iraqi Airways to repatriate Iraqi nationals from Belarus who were among those trying to get into the European Union across the Belarusian border. About 200 people were expected to be flown to Iraq, but the flight was canceled.

On November 18, over 400 migrants from Iraq were flown out of Minsk by an Iraqi Airways plane, arriving in Baghdad after a stopover in Erbil.

On November 22, another 118 migrants left Minsk individually. The head of the Belarusian Interior Ministry’s department for citizenship and migration, Alexey Begun, said on Tuesday that groups of migrants were leaving the country daily.

The migrant crisis on the Belarusian border with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland where migrants have been flocking since the beginning of the year, sharply aggravated on November 8. Several thousand people approached the Polish border from Belarus and refused to leave the area. EU countries have accused Minsk of the intentional escalation of the crisis and have called for sanctions. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko stated that the Western countries themselves were to blame for the situation since people were fleeing the war in their homelands because of the West’s actions.