SULAIMANI — The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, said on Monday (November 22) that his country is waiting for the EU and Germany to admit 2,000 migrants who are stranded on the border with Poland and Lithuania, state media reported.
Lukashenko criticized the EU for "not communicating with Minsk” on the issue and said Belarus "must demand that the Germans take them.”
Thousands of migrants, many from the Kurdistan Region, are stranded at the border between Belarus and EU-member states.
Critics say the Belarusian authorities are exploiting the migrant situation in its conflict over the EU’s stance on the country’s human rights record. The EU is trying to prevent irregular migration.
Lukashenko has insisted Belarus does not want confrontation with Poland.
Iraq carried out the repatriation of more than 400 migrants last week with flights to erbil and Baghdad.
(NRT Digital Media)