Belarusian and Turkish Airlines ban transport of refugees

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Starting from Friday, the Belarusian state airline said it suspended transporting the passengers of Iraqi, Syrian and Yemeni nationalities to its country from Turkey after the escalation of migration crisis at the border between Belarus and Poland, which is a member of the European Union.

The state-owned company BELAVIA announced, in a statement on its website, that citizens of Iraq, Syria and Yemen will not be able, as of today, to board its flights from Turkey to Belarus.

It added that those affected by this procedure can recover the price of their tickets at the place of purchase.

On November 9, Polish Prime Minister, Matush Moravitsky said that the unprecedented wave of migrants trying to enter his country illegally from Belarus threatens the security of the European Union as a whole.

On the same day, German Interior Minister Horst Seafer told the Bild newspaper that the flow of migrants was a problem Poland or Germany cannot deal with alone.

“We must assist the Polish government to secure its external borders, in fact, this should be the functions of the European Commission, and I am now taking care of action,” he added.

Today, Belarusian Vice President Olga Chubris stated that dialogue between the EU and Minsk is necessary, and that a solution may be found for the refugees on Belarus’ border with the EU.

She added that a future roadmap would allow migrants to be assisted, and that the United Nations Commissioners for Human Rights and Refugees should be involved in settling the issue.

The Belarusian Airlines indicated that today’s procedure meets the decision of the competent companies in Turkey.

While, Turkish Airlines denied allegations that it was transporting irregular migrants on its flights to Belarus.

As it said in a previous statement that it conducts its flights to various parts of the world by taking into account all security sensitivities, denying the transfer of illegal immigrants.

This coincides with the worsening conditions of thousands of refugees stranded at the borders and wishing to enter the European Union, as children from the squatter camp staged a demonstration to protest their living conditions.

Russia Today website reported that the protesting children carried banners denouncing the behavior of the European Union, “Where are human rights?” “We want to cross peacefully” and “I want to go to school.”