Two planes bring more migrants back to Iraq from Belarus

Iraqi migrants, who voluntarily registered for an evacuation flight from Belarus, board a bus upon arriving at Erbil International Airport, in Erbil, Iraq, November 26, 2021. REUTERS/Azad Lashkari

ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Two flights brought hundreds of Iraqis who had sought to enter the European Union back to Iraq from Belarus on Friday, as more migrants begin to lose hope of getting safely into the prosperous bloc.

The planes touched down in Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, in the early hours carrying around 600 Iraqis, mostly Kurds, the Kurdistan government and officials at Erbil airport said.