On Saturday, Cham Wings Airlines announced that it is suspending flights from Damascus to the airport in Minsk, Belarus, as the refugee crisis worsens on the border of the EU’s neighboring country.
In a statement, the airline said that the suspension of flights, starting from Saturday, was “due to the critical circumstances of the Belarusian-Polish border.”
“The majority of passengers on our flights to Minsk airport are Syrian nationals and it is difficult to distinguish between passengers bound for Belarus as a final destination and migrant travelers,” the statement said.
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A new report revealed an increasing number of flights from Istanbul, Damascus, and Dubai to Belarus, as part of the dispute over illegal immigration between Belarus and the European Union.
Germany and the European Union accuse Belarusian President, Alexander Lukashenko, of deliberately smuggling refugees from the Middle East into the European Union across Belarus’ borders with Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. The tactic serves as retaliation for European sanctions imposed on the Lukashenko regime following the Belarusian elections, which they described as illegitimate.
Video footage shows crowds of migrants on Poland’s border with Belarus, amid Poland’s tightening of measures to prevent migrants from reaching key European countries.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
