Iraqi Kurd's death in Belarus underscores migrants' despair
ABC News
Gaylan Delir Ismael, a 25-year-old from Iraq’s Kurdistan region, jumped at the chance to try to get to Europe when he heard that thousands from the Middle East were taking advantage of easily obtained tourist visas from Belarus
BAGHDAD -- When Gaylan Delir Ismael heard that other Iraqis were making their way to Europe via an easily obtained tourist visa from the country of Belarus, the 25-year-old from the Kurdistan region jumped at the chance. He packed a bag last month in the hope of reaching Germany for a new life and treatment for his chronic illnesses.
He never made it.
Gaylan's body, in a black coffin wrapped in plastic, was returned to Irbil's airport in northern Iraq on Sunday after he died in a dark and soggy forest near the Belarus-Poland border.
He is one of at least 11 people known to have died in the border crisis that European Union officials blame on the authoritarian regime of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, accusing him of using the migrants as pawns to retaliate for Western sanctions. Belarus denies this, blaming Europe for denying them safe passage.
