Iraqi Kurdistan seems to be emptying. Recent graduates, peshmergas (Kurdish fighters), taxi drivers, teachers, single mothers – the dream of an independent Kurdistan seems to have given way to wishful thinking about a Minsk ticket for many.
If anyone can know, it is Barzan (47), owner of a travel agency on a busy street in the Iraqi border town of Zakho. He lights a cigarette and points to the model airplanes on the wall of his office decorated with chandeliers and gold sofas. On his desk is a “No smoking” sign.
“We offer trips with every airline you see. KLM, Air France, Turkish Airlines. Even Royal Air Morocco.” Barzan rolls up the sleeves of his stark white shirt to his elbows and settles down behind his desk. “No Belavia”, he jokes about the Belarusian airline. Barzan’s travel agency does not sell trips to Minsk.
But to Istanbul. Hundreds of Kurds have traveled to Turkey via his travel agency in recent months, to apply for a visa at the Embassy of Belarus.
Also read: All-inclusive from Beirut to Minsk: This route Syrian refugees are now taking to Europe
This now seems to be coming to an end. Poland and other EU member states have accused Belarusian President Lukashenko for months of facilitating travel to the EU for migrants from the Middle East in revenge for Western sanctions. After much diplomatic pressure from EU member states, citizens from Iraq, Syria and Yemen have therefore no longer been allowed on board flights of Belavia and other airlines from Turkey to Belarus since last weekend. In addition, the Iraqi foreign minister announced on Friday that direct flights between Iraq and Belarus will be suspended. The Syrian Cham Wings also suspended flights to Minsk.
But Barzan continues to see opportunities. “Now that Belavia no longer allows Iraqi passport holders, alternative routes are opening. Via Turkey or not, people will leave anyway. Instead of going through Istanbul to Minsk, Kurds will now travel via Dubai or Beirut.”
No man’s land
Most of the migrants trapped in the no man’s land between Belarus and Poland are of Iraqi Kurdish origin. According to the Kurdish Refugee Associaton, 4,000 Iraqi Kurds have already traveled through Belarus to the EU. Nearly half of these had a tourist visa that they had purchased from a travel agency along with a plane ticket and hotel stays.
Iraqi-Kurdish tourists have been able to do this sort of thing for years all inclusive buy trips from travel agents. But in recent months there was no question of a return ticket.
Werya (23) – his surname is known to the editors just like that of the other people in this story – also bought such a one-way ticket to Minsk. In five days, the fresh physics PhD student would leave Erbil for Minsk, with a stopover in Istanbul. His bag is ready in the corner of the living room.
“Wait, I’ll show you.” He jumps up from his desk chair, kneels down next to his backpack, and opens the zipper. A thick fleece jacket, warm socks and a lot of dates and nuts. He wants to buy a tent after arriving in Minsk. At least a quarter of his group of friends preceded him. Through them he also learned about the horrors that take place at the border. They were trapped between Belarus and Poland for days without food, drink or medical aid. “But they have now arrived safely in Germany. That is why I have hope.”
Instead of via Istanbul, Kurds will travel via Dubai or Beirut
barzan owner travel agency in Zakho
Werya chuckles and takes a sip of tea. “I think that says enough about how much I want to get out of here. There is no prospect for the new generation of Kurds in northern Iraq. There is no work here, certainly not for the highly educated. And even if you have a job, you hardly earn enough.”
What little hope Werya had in Kurdistan seeped away when Masrour Barzani became prime minister. Last year, he had hundreds of journalists, teachers and activists arrested during a demonstration on charges of terrorism and espionage. Werya was friends with many of the arrested protesters. Some are still incarcerated. Now the smile disappears from Werya’s face. He says: “If I want to protest against corruption, I will be arrested. Freedom of expression is only apparent in Iraqi Kurdistan.”
people smugglers
Turkey’s decision to ban Iraqi passport holders from Istanbul is a setback for Werya, but not a disaster. „I have paid, so the travel agency is rebooking my flight. Beirut, Dubai or who knows, Damascus: there are plenty of other options.”
Ageed (37) also planned to travel to Belarus via Istanbul. The father of three children put his house up for sale last week to pay the people smugglers. Only: the sale does not yield nearly enough to pay for the trip for his wife, mother and children. And it is not yet clear whether the rest of the family will have a roof over them when Ageed leaves. Ageed’s mother, listening to her son in a corner of the room, suddenly bursts into tears. She wipes the tears from her face with the tip of her dark blue headscarf and clears her throat. “It is now or never. Because soon the gate will be closed again.”
Ageed has also lost all faith in the government. “This government is a catastrophe. They let their citizens die.” Ageed points to his leg. He became disabled in the 1990s when, as a teenager, he had to flee with his mother from Saddam Hussein’s troops. Due to the severe hypothermia he contracted at the time, he lost feeling in his left leg and arm. The 65 euros a month that he receives from the government is not nearly enough to support his family. Let alone to cover his mother’s medical expenses.
“Have you heard of the 14-year-old Kurdish boy who froze to death between Belarus and Poland? History repeats itself,” says Ageed. Still, he wants to continue. Ageed didn’t wake up when he heard that the door to Minsk via Turkey was locked. “Then I will go through another transfer point. When one door closes, another opens.”
Also read this report about migrants who managed to get to Germany
A version of this article also appeared in NRC in the morning of November 15, 2021
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