Belarusian state-owned airline Belavia will deny boarding to citizens of Iraq, Syria and Yemen as of today (12 November) on flights from Turkey to Belarus following the decision of Turkish authorities. Turkey imposed the decision after the current and critical migrant crisis at the border between Poland and Belarus.
Yesterday, the European Union threatened to blacklist airlines that transport migrants who later attempt to cross the European Union border (via Belarus). The European Commission will coordinate its planned sanctions against Minsk with the United States.
“Belavia passengers, affected by this restriction, can make a full refund without penalty at the place of tickets issuance,” the airline wrote on its official website.
Belavia, which is barred from flying over the European Union after illegally diverting a Ryanair flight earlier this year, continues to fly to destinations like Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan.
The migrant crisis on the border of Belarus with Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia escalated on 8 November. Several thousand migrants have approached the Belarusian-Polish border and set up a tent camp there; some of them tried to cross the border by breaking a barbed-wire fence.
The Belarus regime forced a Ryanair flight transporting an opponent to land at Minsk
