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Belarus has up to 3,000 more refugees in addition to people at border, Lukashenko says

Belarus will seek to improve living conditions for the migrants, the Belarusian President said

MINSK, November 26. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the country has about 2,000 to 3,000 more refugees in addition to the migrants staying at the warehouse near the Polish border.

‘’In addition to this camp of 2,000 people, there are about 2,000 to 3,000 refugees from your countries in Belarus,’’ he said on Friday in a speech before the migrants in Bruzgi near the Polish border. ‘’But this number is very approximate.’’

Belarus will seek to improve living conditions for the migrants, he said. Migrants should ask for help, if need be, he said.

‘’These are your friends - my border guards,’’ Lukashenko said. ‘’Fear them not.’’

The migrant crisis on the Belarusian border with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland where migrants have been flocking since the beginning of the year, took an abrupt turn for the worse on November 8. Several thousand people approached the Polish border from Belarus while some of them attempted to cross into Poland after tearing down a barbed-wire fence. The refugees were later placed at a warehouse in Bruzgi near the Polish border.

Some of the migrants returned to Iraq by special flights of Iraqi Airways, the latest of which took off on November 18. The airline is planning two more flights for November 26 and 27, according to the Minsk Airport.