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Syrian Private Carrier Cham Wings Halts Minsk Flights

Children gather near a barbed wire fence in a migrants' makeshift camp on the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno region, Belarus, Nov. 12, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
Children gather near a barbed wire fence in a migrants' makeshift camp on the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno region, Belarus, Nov. 12, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
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Syrian Private Carrier Cham Wings Halts Minsk Flights

Children gather near a barbed wire fence in a migrants' makeshift camp on the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno region, Belarus, Nov. 12, 2021. (Reuters Photo)
Children gather near a barbed wire fence in a migrants' makeshift camp on the Belarusian-Polish border in the Grodno region, Belarus, Nov. 12, 2021. (Reuters Photo)

Private Syrian carrier Cham Wings Airlines on Saturday halted flights to Minsk as hundreds of migrants mostly from the Middle East remained trapped on the Belarus-Poland border.

"Due to the difficult situation on the Belarus-Poland border and because most of the travelers on our flights to Minsk are Syrian citizens... we have decided to halt our flights to Minsk" as of Saturday, the airline said in a statement.

Cham Wings said it took the decision "because we cannot differentiate between travelers and migrants".

The announcement came hours after Polish police said that the body of a young Syrian man had been found in a forest close to the border between Poland and Belarus.

"The cause of the death could not be determined at the scene," the police said, adding that a group of around 100 migrants had attempted to cross the border during the night in the same area.

Thousands of migrants -- mainly from the Middle East and including Kurds and Syrians -- have crossed or attempted to cross the EU and NATO border since the summer.

The crisis escalated this week when larger groups of hundreds of migrants began arriving at the border and attempting to get through.

Poland is refusing to allow them to cross, with the West accusing Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko of luring them into his country to send over the border in revenge for sanctions.

On Friday, Iraq said it was drawing up lists of its nationals blocked on the border who wish to be repatriated voluntarily.

Iraqi Airways indefinitely suspended its service between Baghdad and Minsk in August, airline spokesman Hussein Jalil said.

In recent weeks, would-be migrants have been forced to fly through third countries, usually Turkey, to reach Belarus.

But on Friday, Turkey banned citizens of Syria, Iraq and Yemen from flying from its airports to Belarus because of the refugee crisis.

Cham Wings is the only Syrian airline that flies to the Belarusian capital, Minsk.

Syria's national carrier operates limited flights due to international sanctions imposed on the Damascus government after the start of the civil war in 2011.

Some people from Iraq have travelled to Lebanon in recent weeks to try to catch flights from Beirut to Minsk, airport officials in the Lebanese capital said.

"Around a month ago, we started preventing Iraqis arriving from Iraq" who wanted to fly to Minsk, one official told AFP.

"They have e-visas but we know they are illegal immigrants," the official added on condition of anonymity.

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Arab World

Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
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Lebanon’s PM Visits Syrian President to Discuss Border Demarcation and Security

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam meets with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus, Syria April 14, 2025. (Dalati & Nohra/Handout via Reuters)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam led a high-level ministerial delegation to Syria on Monday for talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, marking the most significant diplomatic visit between the two countries since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December.

"My visit to Damascus today aims to open a new page in the history of relations between the two countries, based on mutual respect, restoring trust, good neighborliness," Salam said in a statement on X.

At the center of discussions was implementing a March 28 agreement signed in Saudi Arabia by the Syrian and Lebanese defense ministers to demarcate land and sea borders and improve coordination on border security issues, Salam said in the statement.

The Lebanese-Syrian border witnessed deadly clashes earlier this year and years of unrest in the frontier regions, which have been plagued by weapons and illicit drug smuggling through illegal crossings.

During Monday’s meeting, Salam and Sharaa agreed to form a joint ministerial committee to oversee the implementation of the border agreement, close illegal crossings and suppress smuggling activity along the border.

The border area, especially near Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and Syria’s Qusayr region, has long been a corridor for illicit trade, arms trafficking, and the movement of fighters — including Hezbollah fighters who backed the Assad government during Syria’s 14-year civil war.

Hezbollah has been significantly weakened in its recent war with Israel and since Assad's ousting, it lost several key smuggling routes it once relied on for weapons transfers.

Lebanon also pressed Syria to provide clarity on the fate of thousands of Lebanese nationals who were forcibly disappeared or imprisoned in Syrian jails in the 1980s and 1990s, during Syria’s nearly 30-year military presence in Lebanon. Human rights groups have long documented the lack of accountability and transparency regarding these cases, with families of the missing holding regular demonstrations in Beirut demanding answers.

Syrian officials for their part raised the issue of Syrian nationals detained in Lebanese prisons, Salam said. Many of the detainees were arrested for illegal entry or alleged involvement in militant activity. Rights advocates in both countries have criticized the lack of due process in many of these cases and the poor conditions inside detention facilities.

Lebanon pledged to hand over people implicated in crimes committed by the Assad government and security forces, many of whom are believed to have fled to Lebanon after the government’s collapse, if found on Lebanese soil, a ministerial source told The Associated Press.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly comment.

In return, Lebanese officials requested the extradition of Syrians wanted in Lebanese courts for high-profile political assassinations, "most notably those involved in the bombing of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques, those convicted of assassinating President Bashir Gemayel, and other crimes for which the Assad regime is accused," Salam said.

For decades, Lebanon witnessed a long series of politically motivated assassinations targeting journalists, politicians and security officials, particularly those opposed to Syrian influence. The 2013 twin bombings of the Al-Taqwa and Al-Salam mosques in Tripoli in northern Lebanon killed more than 40 people and intensified sectarian tensions already heightened by the spillover from the Syrian war.

Syria has never officially acknowledged involvement in any of Lebanon’s political assassinations.

Salam said he also pushed for renewed cooperation on the return of Syrian refugees.

Lebanese government officials estimate the country hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, of whom about 755,000 are officially registered with the UN refugee agency, or UNHCR, making it the country with the highest number of refugees per capita in the world.

While Lebanese authorities have long urged the international community to support large-scale repatriation efforts, human rights organizations have cautioned against forced returns, citing ongoing security concerns and a lack of guarantees in Syria.

Since the fall of Assad in December, an estimated 400,000 refugees have returned to Syria from neighboring countries, according to UNHCR, with about half of them coming from Lebanon, but many are hesitant to return because of the dire economic situation and fears of continuing instability in Syria.