Iraq says 4,000 migrants stranded in Eastern Europe have returned so far

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein discussed with his Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis illegal immigration and procedures to facilitate the voluntary return of migrants to their country.

"We discussed the issue of Iraqi immigration this year and last year to Belarus and then to Lithuania and Poland," an Iraqi Foreign Ministry statement quoted Hussein as saying.

"We were able to return 4,000 Iraqis who were trapped on the Belarusian-Lithuanian, Belarusian-Polish, and Latvian borders," Hussein noted, adding that a number of Iraqis are still in Lithuania, and Baghdad is awaiting their voluntarily return.

For his part, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis indicated that the Iraqi government was the first to stop flights to Belarus, a measure many countries followed to prevent would-be migrants from going there.

The Lithuanian official explained that some Iraqis had been given "false promises" of a path to immigrate to Europe.

"The European Union considers Iraq an excellent model for dealing with confidence in confronting illegal immigration and smuggling networks and providing everything necessary for a voluntary return that Syria and other countries in the region have emulated," he said.