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Home » News » Iraqi Airways 747 Plays Diplomatic Role In Belarus Border Crisis
BelarusIraqNews

Iraqi Airways 747 Plays Diplomatic Role In Belarus Border Crisis

Matthew Klint Posted onNovember 20, 2021November 14, 2023 28 Comments

a large airplane flying in the sky

An Iraqi Airways 747-400 transported over 400 Iraqis away from the contentious border between Poland and Belarus and back to Iraq, with officials hoping to ease tensions in an escalating spat between the European Union and Belarus.

Iraqi Airways 747 Brings Migrants From EU Border In Belarus Back to Iraq

If I can greatly simplify the last year, I would do so like this:

  • August 2020 – Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus since 1994 and known as “Europe’s last dictator” is re-elected by a landslide in an election opponents and outside observes called rigged.
  • Autumn 2020 – Protests occur on a weekly basis, but are squashed by government forces; the opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya faces exile.
  • May 2021 – A Ryanair flight bound for Vilnius, Lithuania is diverted to Minsk, Belarus due to a phony bomb threat onboard. KGB (secret police) board the flight and arrest opposition activist and journalist Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.
  • Summer 2021 – The European Union, United States, and other nations respond with sanctions against Belarus, including freezing bank accounts and blacklisting Belarusian flag-carrier Belavia..
  • Autumn 2021 – In retaliation, Belarus turns a blind eyes toward incoming migrants from the Middle East attempting to enter and claim refugee status in the European Union. Tens of thousands of immigrants line up on the Polish – Belarus border with plans to enter the European Union via Poland; Belarus assists in that endeavor, leading a further diplomatic crisis and threats of further sanctions

Sensing it was losing the diplomatic war and the sanctions would sting even harder, Belarus agreed to start limiting the number of refugees over its border and stop assisting them cross. Other airlines, like Turkish Airlines, refused to board passengers with Iraqi or Syrian passports on flights to Minsk.

But what to do about the thousands of Iraqis and Syrians already at the Polish border?

Enter Iraqi Airways.

Performing its first humanitarian mission since its repatriation flights in the early days of COVID-19, the Iraqi flag carrier dispatched a Boeing 747-400 for Belarus and returned to Iraq yesterday with 431 Iraqis onboard, stopping first in Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan before continuing on to Baghdad. Most passengers alighted in Erbil. The flight operated as IA272 using a 747 with registration YI-AQQ.

But thousands remain at the border and President Lukashenko told the BBC:

“We’re Slavs. We have hearts. Our troops know the migrants are going to Germany. Maybe someone helped them. I won’t even look into this.

“I told them [the EU] I’m not going to detain migrants on the border, hold them at the border, and if they keep coming from now on I still won’t stop them, because they’re not coming to my country, they’re going to yours.”

Iraqi Airways has not indicated if it will continue to transport Iraqi migrants back to Iraq.

CONCLUSION

In an olive branch to Poland the European Union, Iraqi Airways has brought over 400 Iraqis back to Iraq on a packed 747-400. However thousands of Iraqis, Syrians, and other migrants remain perched at the Belarus – Polish border waiting for an opportunity to slip into Poland. The border crisis continues.

image: Tsung TsenTsan

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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28 Comments

  1. tom Reply
    November 20, 2021 at 9:42 am

    Couple of extra facts. He did not just turn a blind eye, he directed Belavia to add flights left right and center to Syria, Iraq and others.
    Now he is in a pickle because its clear that the EU (Poland in particular) is holding tough so Belarus has a bunch of refugees who cannot get into the EU, and are now planning to stay in Belarus rather than go back to their home countries.

  2. Jackson Waterson Reply
    November 20, 2021 at 9:44 am

    It’s nice to see Poland stand up for the genetic integrity of its country and not allow in foreign migrants who threaten the way of life of Polish people. If the border needs land mines, so be it. It’s not our fault those groups have built, designed, or produced nothing in history and want to undermine all that we’ve built and innovated by trespassing. European schools should have 100% white kids. Enough with this lax border nonsense perpetrated by Merkel.

    Belarus is right not to adopt the moral depravity of Western Europe, however, that’s no excuse to contribute to its decline with migrants. Putin himself denounces the influx of foreign migrants into Europe which threatens our future. It makes no sense why the Belarusian government does this out of spite. Belarusians are Europeans and shouldn’t want to undermine Europe. It’s self harm.

    • anonymous Reply
      November 20, 2021 at 11:58 am

      The only “moral depravity” I see is your blatant nationalist/racist/Neo-Nazi bullshit that you try to seed into every blog you can.

  3. Travel-lite Reply
    November 20, 2021 at 11:34 am

    Come on Matt, you cannot keep allow these openly racist post like the ones Jackson Waterson appear on your blog. There is no freedom of speech on a private blog. There has to be a better process to vetting post. Once the racist and extremist find a blog that allows them to post their views unadulterated, the will flock and your comments will become a cesspool.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      November 20, 2021 at 11:38 am

      Next week there will be a detailed post on a new comments section policy on LiveAndLetsFly. Stay tuned.

      To quote Bob Dylan, “The times they are a changin’”

      We condemn racism.

      • Jackson Waterson Reply
        November 20, 2021 at 12:14 pm

        You mean you condemn the word “racism” that was invented by communists to get White people to act against their self interest and undergo genocide through open borders and indoctrination in schools that every group is equal despite all the evidence to the contrary?

        • Aaron Reply
          November 20, 2021 at 12:46 pm

          That makes zero sense and in probably not true at all.

          Also at this point Matthew it seems like he is openly challenging you by daring you to ban him.

      • MeanMeosh Reply
        November 20, 2021 at 6:44 pm

        I at least hope you plan to be equal opportunity when it comes to viewpoint discrimination. I think you know what I mean when I say certain progressive trolls fill your comments section with ad hominem, personal attacks on anyone they deem “Trump supporters” – if you’re going to start censoring, those need to go, too.

        For that matter, given all of the politically-charged clickbait on here about masks, vaccines, etc., how exactly do you plan on policing the comments section? I sure hope you and Kyle are budgeting several hours per day to delete comments, because you’re going to need it!

        • Aaron Reply
          November 21, 2021 at 1:28 am

          One could argue that if the comments that are on the racist/xenophobic/etc side are’t being made to begin with, nobody would have a reason to reply to them…

    • Jackson Waterson Reply
      November 20, 2021 at 12:17 pm

      You can’t disagree or dispute the facts laid out so you go by the communist playbook by calling racism. How original.

      What are you so afraid of, the truth? You are afraid White people start seeing reality and stop believing your crap.

      • Debit Reply
        November 20, 2021 at 12:45 pm

        I have been saying white Republican males are dangerous. The MSM seems to be coming around to the view

        https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/20/us/angry-white-men-trials-blake-cec/index.html

        • Amy Fischer Reply
          November 20, 2021 at 3:45 pm

          Of course you think White people standing up for themselves is dangerous. It might mean we don’t continue to eat crap and actually start acting in our interest.

          Jackson is right. You are afraid the truth and support censoring it. Matthew will prove a point if he turns into a commie blog.

          • Aaron
            November 21, 2021 at 1:23 am

            Quick, somebody call the wambulence for all these harsh cases of white fragility…

          • Travel-Lite
            November 21, 2021 at 7:50 am

            Did you read Jackson’s original post. You now believe standing up for the white race means you can be openly racist against other races. Also, what is your definition of communism? I can tell by how you use it, that you have no clue. I hope this does become a commie blog so people like you and Jackson can find another blog to post your racist viewpoints so this comments section can get back to discussing travel and I don’t have to continue reading post by white supremacist.

        • cargocult Reply
          November 20, 2021 at 5:32 pm

          Jacob Blake, the man whose shooting by the police was the impetus for the riots in Kenosha, is still alive, despite what the media might have you believe. Blake was armed and had a warrant for his arrest for sexual assault, trespassing and disorderly conduct in connection with domestic abuse. There had been rioting by outsiders flooding into Kenosha for days before Rittenhouse ever showed up that night. All three men he shot were white. They all assaulted him. Rosenbaum was a mentally ill child rapist who was screaming, “Shoot me, n-gger!” Huber struck Rittenhouse with a skateboard. Grosskreutz pointed his gun at Rittenhouse. Damage to property in Kenosha exceeded $50 million. Some peaceful protests, eh? That sure showed the white supremacists! (The car dealership Rittenhouse was allegedly protecting was Indian-owned.)

          • Aaron
            November 21, 2021 at 1:25 am

            The media never said Jacob Blake was dead, they always said he was paralyzed as a result of the shooting.

          • cargocult
            November 21, 2021 at 3:48 pm

            Really? Check starting at 8:30 on this video.

            https://www.facebook.com/ABCNewsLive/videos/jury-reaches-verdict-in-kyle-rittenhouse-homicide-trial/1635206630157718/

            https://thepostmillennial.com/usa-today-falsely-claims-jacob-blake-is-dead-in-story-about-kyle-rittenhouse-fundraiser

            And other “errors” in reporting stated that Rittenhouse killed black BLM protesters.

            https://thepostmillennial.com/international-media-falsely-reports-that-rittenhouse-shot-three-black-men

            Why is it that the media painted Rittenhouse as a villainous outsider while the convicted criminals who attacked him were peaceful protesters for racial justice (yelling “Shoot me, n*gger,” no less))? Abusers of women (and children, in the case of Rosenbaum), as is Jacob Blake. Saints, just like George Floyd, armed robber and fentanyl enthusiast.

            GoFundMe wouldn’t let Rittenhouse raise money for his legal defense on their platform. White supremacists deserve to be “deplatformed,” though, right?

            https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/gofundme-reverses-ban-on-kyle-rittenhouse-fundraisers-after-acquittal

  4. Debit Reply
    November 20, 2021 at 12:40 pm

    Poland held tough and the migrants are going back. Why can’t the liberals get their heads out of their asses and do the same in the USA.

    • Aaron Reply
      November 20, 2021 at 12:50 pm

      Because then you’d have to deport anyone who isn’t a Native/Indigenous American…

      • cargocult Reply
        November 20, 2021 at 5:46 pm

        Do you own property in the United States? Do you perform a land acknowledgement whenever you enter your home? Are you a Native American? Do you not realize that Native Americans were fighting each other over territory in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans? Do you realize that Native Americans were slave-owners? No group of people has a monopoly on virtue or savagery except progressives, of course. They are always on the right side of history.

        https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/04/15/bones-reveal-some-truth-in-noble-savage-myth/c6a19b59-cef0-41a1-8df0-d9a59e9d02bd/
        https://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/pinker07/pinker07_index.html

        • Aaron Reply
          November 21, 2021 at 1:21 am

          “Do you own property in the United States? Do you perform a land acknowledgement whenever you enter your home? Are you a Native American? Do you not realize that Native Americans were fighting each other over territory in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans? Do you realize that Native Americans were slave-owners? No group of people has a monopoly on virtue or savagery except progressives, of course. They are always on the right side of history.”

          Yay, more whataboutitis and diversionitis! None of which has anything to with the original point, regarding who was on the land first. It has zero to do with how they acted. But keep trying to divert and change the subject, that is what you are best at.

          • cargocult
            November 21, 2021 at 3:29 pm

            I didn’t realize calling “shotgun” on a piece of land gave one inviolable property rights over it for all eternity. Call it whataboutism if you like. You brought up the issue of the Native Americans arriving in North America first. You are incapable of recognizing that not all white folx are evil and proto-BIPOCs weren’t secure in their alleged title to the land before Europeans arrived. Do you do a land acknowledgement for all the homonid species homo sapiens replaced? No one claims what happened to the Native Americans after European contact was pretty, but don’t pretend that North America was some Edenic idyll before that. Check the evidence of the rate of violent deaths among natives before and after the white bogeymen arrived. There were multiple waves of “indigenous” folx who replaced previous residents. Now anthropologists are afraid to acknowledge this in their research because of the wokification of the academy. Indigenous white supremacy!

            https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/invaders-nearly-wiped-out-caribbeans-first-people-long-before-spanish-came-dna-reveals
            https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982217310916
            https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/dna-study-beothuk-newfoundland-population-1.4351938
            https://quillette.com/2021/03/29/the-campaign-to-thwart-paleogenetic-research-into-north-americas-indigenous-peoples/

  5. Aaron Reply
    November 20, 2021 at 12:56 pm

    On a different note, I’m surprised that Iraqi Airways operates747s. Does anyone know what routes these plans are used on?

    • Aaron Reply
      November 20, 2021 at 1:05 pm

      Planes, not plans…

  6. Atz Reply
    November 20, 2021 at 1:53 pm

    Well, it was precisely this plane that at first brought a lot of people from Iraq TO Belarus…..

    There is also a trip report:
    https://travelandaviation.com/iraqi-airways-b747-400-baghdad-to-minsk/

    „It seems to be a popular tourist destination for Iraqis in summer to escape the heat….“

  7. Jance Reply
    November 20, 2021 at 10:42 pm

    Doesn’t look like a 747-400 to me. Photo is an -800, I believe. No?

    • JAXBA Reply
      November 21, 2021 at 6:42 am

      No. Upper deck is too short, and aircraft has winglets.

      747-8 has longer UD (more windows after exit), and no winglets.

  8. emercycrite Reply
    November 28, 2021 at 4:09 am

    What a beautiful plane.

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