Minsk, Nov 26 (IANS): Nearly 1,000 Iraqi refugees in Belarus have expressed their readiness to return home while a group of refugees returned to Iraq by plane from Minsk airport, state media reported.
The Iraqi side received requests from about 1,000 people wishing to return to Iraq, Majid al-Kinani, the Iraqi consul in Russia and Belarus, was quoted as saying.
Thousands of refugees, mostly from the Middle East, are attempting to enter Poland, Lithuania and other European Union countries from Belarus in order to eventually obtain asylum in western Europe. Countries like Poland have tightened border controls and prevented illegal entry, leaving large numbers of immigrants stuck at the border, Xinhua news agency reported.