Belarus clears migrant camp at border with EU as crisis with West eases

BRUZGI, Belarus, Nov 18 (Reuters) – Belarus authorities cleared the principle camps the place migrants had huddled on the border with Poland on Thursday, in what seemed to be a serious improvement in a disaster that has spiralled in latest weeks into an East-West confrontation.

Belarus state information company Belta mentioned the migrants sheltering within the forest had been dropped at a warehouse in Belarus away from the frontier. A spokesperson for Polish border guards confirmed the camps had been cleared.

“These camps are actually empty, the migrants have been taken most certainly to the transport-logistics centre which isn’t removed from the Bruzgi border crossing,” the Polish spokesperson mentioned.

“There have been no different such camps … however there have been teams showing elsewhere attempting to cross the border. We’ll see what occurs within the subsequent hours. … There are nonetheless some individuals round, nevertheless it’s clearly emptying out.”

European nations accuse Belarus of getting intentionally created the disaster by flying in migrants from the Center East and pushing them to aim to cross the borders illegally into Poland and Lithuania. Minsk denies intentionally fomenting it.

In latest weeks, lots of of migrants per evening have tried to cross the frontier and have clashed with Polish troops on the border. Round ten are believed to have died within the freezing woods.

The transfer to clear the camps comes throughout per week of intensified diplomacy. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke by phone twice in three days the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, usually shunned by European leaders.

Belarus mentioned earlier on Thursday Lukashenko had proposed a plan to Merkel to resolve the disaster, underneath which the EU would absorb 2,000 individuals whereas Minsk would ship one other 5,000 again dwelling.

There was no fast response from the EU to the announcement of that plan. Nonetheless, shortly earlier than it was introduced, the European Fee mentioned there could possibly be no negotiation with Belarus over the plight of the migrants.

Earlier on Thursday, lots of of Iraqis checked in at a Minsk airport for flight again to Iraq, the primary repatriation flight of its variety since August. read more

Reporting by Kacper Pempel in Belarus, Pawel Florkiewicz, Alan Charlish, Anna Koper, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Joanna Plucinska in Poland, Charlotte Bruneau in Iraq, Andrius Sytas in Lithuania, Matthias Williams in Ukraine, Vladimir Soldatkin and Tom Balmfort in Moscow; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Modifying by Timothy Heritage and Peter Graff

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.