The European Union said on Thursday (July 29) that it was putting pressure on Iraq to help prevent the flow of migrants into Belarus, who were then smuggled across the border into Lithuania.
Brussels said that in recent months, about 2,700 immigrants — most of them from Iraq — entered the Baltic States and EU member states illegally.
Officials suspect that the Belarusian regime orchestrated a massive influx in retaliation against EU sanctions and used flights to transport migrants from Baghdad to Minsk.
“We have been in contact with the Iraqi government to better control flights to Belarus and to readmit Iraqi nationals who want to return voluntarily or who are not entitled to international protection,” Interior Affairs Commissioner Ilva Johnson told EU ministers Wrote in a letter. .
EU foreign policy chief Jose Puborel said on Wednesday that he had held talks with the Iraqi Foreign Minister to discuss “how to solve the problem of increasing numbers of Iraqi citizens illegally crossing the border from Belarus into Lithuania.”
“This is not only a concern of a member state, but also a concern of the EU as a whole. We count on Iraq’s support,” Borrell wrote on Twitter.
Baghdad promised earlier this month to investigate suspected smuggling of people into Lithuania and established a joint committee with the European Union to discuss immigration issues.
An EU spokesperson said on Thursday that a “large proportion” of people entering Lithuania does not appear to be eligible to apply for asylum in the EU.
Brussels has threatened to increase sanctions against Belarus, which have been imposed on Belarus since last year for suppressing protests in the disputed elections.
After Minsk forced a European airliner to land in order to arrest a dissident journalist, the European Union hit key sectors of the Belarusian economy last month.
