Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Migrants Say Belarusians Took Them to E.U. Border and Supplied Wire Cutters

"Belarus airs more footage of detained activist as family call it ‘hostage’ video
""Belarus Forces Down Plane to Seize Dissident; Europe Sees ‘State Hijacking’"""

Iraqi Kurds and other migrants said they were fleeing despair at home, but Belarus encouraged them, offering visas and helping them get to the border.

By Jane Arraf and Elian Peltier Nov. 13, 2021

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq — The sudden surge of migrants to Belarus from the Middle East that is now the focus of a political crisis in Europe was hardly an accident.

The government of Belarus loosened its visa rules in August, Iraqi travel agents said, making a flight to the country a more palatable journey to Europe than the dangerous sea crossing from Turkey to Greece.

It increased flights by the state-owned airline, and then actively helped funnel migrants from the capital, Minsk, to the frontiers with Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.

And Belarusian security forces gave them directions on how to cross into the European Union countries, even handing out wire cutters and axes to cut through border fences.

More - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/13/world/middleeast/belarus-migrants-iraq-kurds.html

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Air Route to Belarus Closed to Migrants in Bid to Halt Crisis

Hoping to stem the flow of migrants stuck on the border of Belarus and Poland, Dubai banned Iraqi and Syrian passengers from traveling to Minsk.

By Isabella Kwai and Monika Pronczuk
Nov. 14, 2021Updated 5:15 p.m. ET

Dubai on Sunday began banning travelers from Iraq from passing through the emirate on their way to Belarus, cutting off the last major air route from the Middle East to Minsk in an effort to halt a humanitarian crisis that has left thousands of people stranded at Belarus’s border with Poland.

Along with the Iraqis, Syrians also appeared to be blocked from boarding airlines in Dubai, despite holding Belarusian visas, according to travel agents and passengers. Some had leveraged their life savings to make the journey.

More - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/14/world/middleeast/belarus-mideast-air-route.html