Hundreds of Iraqis fly home from Belarus after abandoning hope of reaching EU

Migrants line up to be registered on a special flight to Iraq at the National Airport outside Minsk (Andrey Pokumeiko/BelTA via AP)

Hundreds of Iraqis have flown home from Belarus, abandoning their hopes of reaching the European Union following more than a week of tensions at the bloc’s eastern border.

State-run Belarusian media reported that there were no more migrants left in the makeshift camps near the Polish border after authorities opened a heated warehouse for them to shelter from the cold in.