Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
The Turkish government has officially banned Syrians, Yemenis and Iraqis from flying to Belarus, in an effort to defuse the migrant crisis.
Today thousands of migrants from the Middle East are sheltering deep in the jungle on the border between Belarus and EU countries Poland and Lithuania, as the region refuses them to cross.
Some of the immigrants have died and their safety is in danger as it is the middle of winter.
Meanwhile, the European Union accused the Belarusian government of creating a crisis by encouraging immigrants to cross the border illegally.
The European Union Council is expected in the early hours of Monday to impose sanctions on Belarus and airlines that allow citizens to fly.
European Union officials welcomed the decision by Turkey’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation that Syrians, Yemenis and Iraqis would not be allowed to buy tickets to Belarus or board flights there from Turkish territory.
Turkey has also denied playing a direct role in allowing its territory to be used to transport immigrants.
However, the Minsk airport website lists six commercial flights arriving from Istanbul on Friday, the most from any city outside the former Soviet Union.
European Union officials have repeatedly said that one solution to the crisis is to stop potential migrants in the Middle East from boarding flights to Belarus.
“This is already showing results,” said a spokesman for the European Commission quoting Reuters, Saturday (13/11).
The spokesman also said Iraq Airways had agreed to stop flights to Belarus.
However, the head of the European Union’s border agency Frontex Fabrice Leggeri said he saw no speedy resolution of the migrant crisis at the Polish border.
“We have to be prepared for this situation for a long time,” Fabrice said.
Deny the Crisis
Belarus, on the other hand, denies fomenting the crisis, but also says it cannot help resolve it unless Europe lifts sanctions.
It is known, the EU did impose measures in response to President Alexander Lukashenko’s crackdown on demonstrators protesting his government in 2020.
Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia, threatened this week to cut off Russian gas supplies sent to Europe via Belarusian territory.
Then the Kremlin seemed unwilling to be associated with the threat, saying Belarus had not consulted before issuing Lukashenko’s statement and Russia would continue to fulfill the gas delivery contract.
But Moscow itself shows no sign of trying to resolve the border crisis. Russian and Belarusian paratroopers even held joint exercises near the border on Friday, and the Russian air force has sent planes this week to patrol the border.
“From our point of view, the Russian president has the possibility to influence the situation and we hope he takes the right steps,” a German government spokesman said.
Separately, Russia’s defense ministry said two of its soldiers died on Friday due to parachute problems during a joint exercise near the Polish border.
Polish authorities said they had thwarted 223 attempts to cross the border illegally from Belarus overnight, including two large groups. They estimate 3-4 thousand migrants are trapped along the border.
(ryh / vws)
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