Belarusian airlines stop boarding passengers from 4 countries

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Belarusian national flag carrier has announced that it would no longer board the nationals of four countries from the UAE to the capital Minsk amid the ongoing crisis at the border with Poland.

The citizens of Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, and Syria will not be allowed to board flights from Dubai to Minsk as of Nov. 14, 2021, Belavia Airlines said in a statement on its website on Sunday.

"In this regard, Belavia is strengthening documents verification during check-in for flights from Dubai," it added.

Passengers subject to this ban can refund their tickets at the place of purchase, it stated.

The company added that "for many years, it has not operated regular or charter flights to Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and has never facilitated the transportation of illegal migrants to the Republic of Belarus."

"Due to the increased attention to this topic of some media (outlets), the airline has strengthened control on all its flights over compliance with all visa requirements and migration legislation of the Republic of Belarus and foreign countries," it said.

At least 2,000 people, including women and children, have got stuck at the Belarus-Poland border area in dire conditions since last week.

Roughly 8,000 people tried to enter the bloc via the Belarus-EU border so far this year, up sharply from just 150 last year.