ERBIL (Iraq) – On Friday, hundreds of Iraqis flew from Belarus to bring back thousands of migrants who sought entry to the European Union.

In the wee hours of the morning, 600 Iraqis were on board the planes that touched down at Erbil in Iraq’s capital, Erbil.

Many passengers reported feeling relieved to finally be at home.

I don’t want the same route again. Malak Hassan 11, whose family tried crossing the Belarus border to the EU, said that it was “very bad”.

Kurdistan native AwatQader stated that he saw migrants being beat while camping near the Belarus-Lithuania border and that he won’t make the same journey again.

He said that “we had to spend a lot even to return to Minsk” to cross the border.

Iraqis who fled seeking economic opportunity and in some cases political asylum began returning to their country https://www.reuters.com/world/iraqis-check-flight-home-after-failed-attempts-get-into-eu-2021-11-18 a week ago having failed to get into the EU via a route that smugglers promised them would work.

EU claims Minsk is responsible for creating the crisis. This was part of an “hybrid assault” against the bloc. It distributed Belarusian visas to the Middle East and flew in migrants, pushing them to cross illegally. Belarus claims it did not cause the crisis.

On Wednesday 27 migrants drowned trying to cross the English Channel. Their dinghy burst, echoing the 2015 migration crisis in which thousands fled war-torn Middle East and died on their way to Europe.

The defeat of Islamic State 2017 in Iraq means the country is not at war. However, the absence of basic services and opportunities as well as corruption and nepotism of the political system mean that many people have very little opportunity to live a normal life.