Baghdad The President of the Republic, Barham Salih, stressed today, Thursday, during a phone call from Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausida, the need to protect the rights of migrants and ensure their security and lives as a basic principle of human rights.

He said that Iraqi laws guarantee freedom of travel and movement for Iraqi citizens, but falling into the trap of human trafficking networks is a dangerous business, stressing that the government has taken important and urgent measures, and an investigation has been opened to find out what happened to implicate and entrap citizens.

The phone call dealt with discussing aspects of joint cooperation and strengthening diplomatic relations between the two countries and discussing the issue of Iraqi citizens stranded at the Belarusian-Lithuanian border, where reference was made to the measures taken by the Iraqi government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the voluntary return of stranded citizens by conducting flights, as well as its diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue.

He pointed out that it is unfortunate that an Iraqi citizen was killed on the Belarusian-Lithuanian border, as an invitation was made through the Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Warsaw to the Lithuanian side to provide Iraq with available information and explanations regarding the tragic killing incident.

Salih pointed out that Iraq is committed to respecting countries and their sovereignty, calling for the importance of joint cooperation between the two parties and increasing coordination between the concerned authorities in both countries.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency