Thus far, Estonia has accepted a total of 120 refugees under the EU migrant distribution plan, among them an Iraqi family of five who returned to their country of origin voluntarily under the VARRE program of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), spokespeople for the Ministry of Social Affairs said on Tuesday.

Six families consisting of a total of 31 people are not in Estonia at the moment.

Every refugee who has arrived in Estonia has the right to travel within the Schengen area during no more than 90 days in any 180-day period. As none of the families currently away from Estonia have yet been out of the country for more than 90 days, they cannot be deemed as having left Estonia for good.

The family of five that returned to Iraq consisted of two parents and their three children; the father left Estonia in January and the rest of the family followed last week. The family had arrived in Estonia in March 2016 and was the first family to be relocated to Estonia under the EU migrant distribution plan.