Iraq denies 'mass execution' of migrants on the Belarus-Polish border  

The Iraqi foreign ministry and an Iraqi lawmaker said that there is no evidence so far to prove claims by Belarus that "mass executions" were carried out against Iraqi migrants on the Belarus-Poland border earlier this year.

Belarus on June 21 claimed that its investigative committee handed over "documents" to a visiting Iraqi delegation, allegedly proving that Polish border guards have carried out "mass executions" against 135 Iraqi migrants on the Polish side of the border with Belarus.   

Ahmed al-Sahaf, the Iraqi foreign ministry's spokesperson, said early last week that the ministry has formed a crisis cell to investigate the claims. 

"On the 7th of February 2022, the embassy embarked on high-level coordination and investigation via the relevant authorities in Poland, and it was proven that the news issued by foreign and local media were incorrect due to the lack of any reliable and legal evidence such as eyewitnesses, video footage or photos to the occurrence of mass executions on the Polish-Belarusian border," Sahaf told Iraqi state news agency (INA) on 22 June.

"The Iraqi government has previously formed a specialized legal team concerned with following up on this file, and it will submit its report as soon as the investigation follow-up is completed," he added. 

"Our committee has followed up on this issue. I personally do not think that this issue is as Belarus claims and has exploited it for the time being. It seems this issue might be used by Belarus within the context of its issues with Poland and the EU," Arian Taugozi, member of the foreign relations committee at the Iraqi parliament, told The New Arab in a phone call. "We hope these claims do not come true, and we will continue in our follow-ups until we reach a final conclusion." 

TNA contacted Dashty Jamal, the Secretary of the International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR), but he was not immediately available to comment. 

"Both Polish and Belarusian border guards were treating us inhumanly, but I did not see any killings by gunfire. From what I saw, I ruled out that claims of mass killings by the Polish border guards were true," a Kurdish migrant, who was on the Polish-Belarus borders and now being deported to Sulaimaniyah province in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, told TNA on condition of anonymity.   

The Poland-Belarus border became a flashpoint last year for thousands of refugees and migrants - mostly from Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and Iraqi Kurdistan - trying to cross into the European Union member state.

The EU accused Belarus of luring the migrants to the border as revenge for sanctions against President Alexander Lukashenko's regime. Belarus has denied the claim and criticised the EU for not taking in the migrants.

Though Iraq has repatriated thousands of its citizens, some continue to try to cross the border.

Poland is still pushing refugees back across the border with Belarus, Human Rights Watch said earlier this month, and it is constructing a wall along its border with Belarus to stop refugees and migrants from entering.

On the Belarusian side, people reported violence, inhuman and degrading treatment and other forms of coercion by Belarusian border guards.

Like other European countries, Poland has been accused of double standards in its treatment of refugees from Europe versus elsewhere.

While Poland blocks the flow of Iraqi and other non-European refugees and migrants, it has welcomed millions of Ukrainians that have fled Russia's onslaught on their home country, which began in February.