A group of 118 migrants have left the country a day earlier and more will depart on Tuesday, according to Belarus's interior ministry.
Authorities in Belarus has said that a group of 118 migrants who had hoped to reach the European Union via Poland have been flown out of the country.
"Yesterday, 118 people left from Minsk national airport," Alexey Begun, the head of the migration department at Belarus's interior ministry, told state news agency Belta on Tuesday.
He said another group of migrants was due to fly out of Belarus on Tuesday.
He did not say where they were headed, but said the embassies of several countries, including Syria and Iraq, were organising repatriation flights for their citizens who "have found themselves in a difficult situation."
It was the latest sign of de-escalation in a crisis that saw several thousand migrants, mainly from the Middle East, stuck on the border between Poland and Belarus, the EU's eastern frontier.
'We are preparing another flight'
A first group of 431 people was flown back to Iraq from Belarus on a repatriation flight last week.
Begun said authorities were "assisting" migrants who wish to go home with their paperwork.
He said Minsk was working with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on getting migrants out of the border zone.
Representatives of the organisations were on a visit to the country, he said, meeting with state authorities to "work on joint steps to resolve the migrant crisis".
On Monday, Belarus's President Alexander Lukashenko said more repatriation flights were being prepared.
"We are preparing another flight for the end of the month, if we gather these people," he said, according to Belta.
Western leaders have accused Lukashenko of causing the crisis by luring migrants to his country to send across the border into the EU in retaliation for sanctions.
The migrants set up a camp on the frontier after Polish forces deployed to prevent crossings, and Belarusian authorities eventually moved them to a logistics centre near the Bruzgi border checkpoint.
Aid groups say at least 11 migrants have died since a surge in attempts to cross the border began this summer.
Source: AFP
Social media is bold.
Social media is young.
Social media raises questions.
Social media is not satisfied with an answer.
Social media looks at the big picture.
Social media is interested in every detail.
social media is curious.
Social media is free.
Social media is irreplaceable.
But never irrelevant.
Social media is you.
(With input from news agency language)
If you like this story, share it with a friend!
We are a non-profit organization. Help us financially to keep our journalism free from government and corporate pressure
0 Comments