KRG to discuss migrant crisis following recent drownings 

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) will discuss the situation of Kurdish migrants abroad, including those who recently drowned while trying to reach one of the European Union countries. 

Prime Minister Masrour Barzani will chair the cabinet meeting, according to a statement from the government. 

The ministers will discuss the situation of Kurdish migrants abroad and the recent migrant drownings in the Aegean Sea. The bodies of many of those drowned migrants haven't been found yet. 

Prime Minister Barzani recently announced that the government would facilitate the return of migrants. The bodies of five migrants were repatriated to the Kurdistan Region's capital in Erbil on Tuesday. 

The government has previously announced that it is working to disrupt human smuggling networks and their agents, whom it blames for the recent tragedies. 

In a November phone call with Prime Minister Barzani, the French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he appreciated the KRG's efforts in tackling the dangerous networks that have endangered the lives of hundreds of migrants. 

Read More: France 'appreciates' KRG efforts in combating human smuggling networks 

In cooperation with the Iraqi government, the Kurdistan Region has organized a number of repatriation flights to voluntarily bring back those migrants that were stranded on the Polish-Belarusian border in late 2021. 

As a result, more than 3,500 migrants were flown back to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, according to government officials.