Over 400 stranded migrants will arrive in Erbil on Thursday

The KRG has conducted a number of arrests to disrupt these criminal networks, he added.

Halgurd Sherwani 2021/12/02 10:06

Returning migrants claiming their luggage at Erbil International Airport, Nov. 27, 2021. (Photo: Media and Information/KRG)

Kurdistan Immigrants Migrants Krg Belarus-Poland Erbil Minsk Repatriation flights

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A new repatriation flight is scheduled to transport over 400 migrants stranded on the Poland-Belarus border to the Kurdistan Region’s capital Erbil on Thursday evening, according to a Kurdish diplomat.

This is the sixth repatriation flight carried out in cooperation between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Iraqi government for migrants willing to return voluntarily.

It is carrying an estimated 430 migrants, including children, and will arrive at Erbil International Airport from Minsk at 5 pm local time on Thursday, Saleem Pasha, the head of immigrant’s affairs at the KRG Department of Foreign Relations, told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday.

Since Nov. 18, Iraqi Airways had flown back 2,302 migrants, most of whom are residents of the Kurdistan Region.

In a recent interview with Kurdistan 24, Safeen Dizayee, the head of KRG Department of Foreign Relations, said that the migrants had been the victims of the criminal smuggling networks that brought them to the European borders.

The KRG has conducted a number of arrests to disrupt these criminal networks, he added.

In a phone call with the Region’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian expressed his appreciation for the KRG’s efforts in combating these smugglers.