Report uncovers Belarusian role in migrant smuggling from Libya
A German investigation has discovered the alleged Belarusian coordination of irregular migrant smuggling from Libya to Greece, according to the Libya Review on December 13th.
German newspaper De Zeit published the findings after conducting a joint investigation with public broadcasters NDR and WDR. The results have raised serious alarm over European security and the weaponisation of migration by hostile states to apply geopolitical pressure.
The investigation noted a sharp increase in migrant departures from Libyan shores towards the Greek island of Crete in recent months. On October 22nd, the Mixed Migration Centre’s North Africa quarterly update for the third quarter of 2025 reported a vast 318% surge in migrant arrivals to Crete in just one year.
An understanding is developing amongst various European security agencies that large parts of irregular migration flows into the continent are not just driven by push factors like conflict or economic underdevelopment, but are being intentionally orchestrated by external actors that are exploiting Libya as a core transit point.
The investigation revealed that Belarus is transporting migrants by air from its own territory to Libya, where established smuggling networks arrange their journey across the Mediterranean Sea into Europe.
Officials in Europe suspect that Belarus, a key Russian ally which is potentially acting with the Kremlin’s backing, is capitalising on migration to foment political unrest, instability, and division within and amongst EU states to undermine their capacity to materially support Ukraine in its war against Russia.
Minsk and Moscow’s meddling in European anti-migration efforts is not a new development. In early August, the European Commission opened an investigation into a string of “suspicious” flights operated by Belarusian airline Belavia travelling from Minsk to the eastern Libyan capital city of Benghazi.
However, the most glaring example of Belarus’ efforts to intensify the European migration crisis came in 2021. The country’s President, Alexandr Lukashenko, threatened to “flood” the EU with drugs and migrants by turning a blind eye to illegal crossings into neighbouring EU states.
At the time, Human Rights Watch accused Belarus of manufacturing the crisis by luring migrants from the Middle East with the promise of entry into the EU, subsequently coercing them into crossing the border. The New York Times even reported that Belarusian authorities escorted them to EU borders and supplied them with wire cutters to facilitate their entry. Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania all declared a state of emergency and deployed troops at the border.
Now European officials worry that without a coordinated response to foil Belarus’ role in migrant smuggling, Libya could become a well-established site through which international actors hostile to the EU exploit its migrant crisis to destabilise the continent.
Libya Review, Mixed Migration centre, Maghrebi.org, The Libya Observer, Human Rights Watch, The New York Times
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