BAGHDAD (Xinhua) – The Iraqi Foreign Ministry says it has evacuated 617 migrants stranded in Belarus, most of whom are women, children and the elderly. “The ministry’s efforts are continuing to evacuate the migrants voluntarily, and 617 Iraqis are now returned, in coordination with Iraqi Airways, from the Belarusian capital Minsk,” Ahmed al-Sahaf, a spokesman of Iraq’s Foreign Ministry, told the official Iraqi News Agency. In an earlier statement, Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi stressed the importance of taking all “necessary joint measures to preserve the security and safety of Iraqi citizens and work to avoid any Iraqis becoming a victim of human trafficking networks.”