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Over 700 migrants remain at Belarusian border, West not interested in them — MFA

"These people are willing neither to return to their homeland nor to stay in Belarus," Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said

MINSK, February 16. /TASS/. Over 700 migrants are remaining at the Belarusian border, including more than 200 children, while the West is not interested in them, Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"At present, over 700 migrants, including more than 270 children, are staying at the logistics center in Bruzgi. These people are willing neither to return to their homeland nor to stay in Belarus <…>. And no one [in the West] is interested in the fate of these 700 migrants," the top diplomat noted.

The migration crisis at the Belarusian border with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland escalated on November 8, 2021. Several thousand people, including migrants from the Middle East and Africa, approached the Polish border and attempted to enter the Polish territory, breaking the barbed wire fence. Then, roughly 2,000 people were accommodated at the logistics center in Bruzgi. According to the Belarusian leadership, apart from those remaining at the border zone, Belarus recorded some 2,000-3,000 refugees from the Middle East. Some of the migrants returned to their homeland by evacuation flights.