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Migration is one of the most critical issues for the whole European Union in the last decades. Considered mainly as a problem for the Southern European countries, in recent years also the question of how to deal with waves of migrants has been in the agenda of the Eastern European nations,  due to Belarus. Despite its peculiar position as a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, Belarus has in fact recently found itself at the centre of a diplomatic crisis with its neighbouring countries. An influx of Middle Eastern and African migrants, allegedly facilitated by the Belarusian government, has strained relations between Minsk and many countries in the European Union, leading to accusations of human trafficking and prompting a humanitarian crisis on the EU eastern frontier.

In the final months of 2021, Belarus began to facilitate the entry of migrants from various countries, primarily through visa-free travel. This move has been considered as a deliberate tactic to pressure the European Union to lift sanctions imposed on Belarus in response to the crackdown on domestic dissent following the 2020 presidential elections, in which Alexander Lukashenko won a sixth term in office. According to foreign observers, the strategy of the Belarusian government was twofold: to use migrants as leverage against the EU and to divert attention from domestic issues. By creating a migration crisis, the Belarusian leadership wanted to force the EU to reconsider its stance on Belarus and to undermine its solidarity. The EU, however, has remained strong in its refusal to yield to Minsk’s demands. The European Union has in fact responded to the crisis by strengthening its border controls with Belarus and by providing support to Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, the countries most directly affected by the influx of migrants. Still, Lukashenko’s strategy has been particularly effective given the EU’s ongoing debate over migration policy and the challenges it faces in managing its external borders. The war in Ukraine, prompted by the Russian invasion, put further pressure on Poland and other countries in the region, giving Belarus even more leverage in its hybrid actions. We should also take account of the fact that the Belarusian government’s decisions have had a significant impact on the lives of the migrants involved, as many have been stranded in harsh conditions at the Belarusian-Polish border, facing freezing temperatures, inadequate shelter, and limited access to food and water in a region thousands of miles away from their countries of origin. The EU and the neighbouring states accused the Belarusian authorities of exploiting the migrants’ vulnerability by charging them exorbitant fees for transportation and accommodation. Additionally, there have been reports of human rights abuses, including violence and detention, perpetrated against migrants by Belarusian security forces.

The EU also took concrete actions in response to Belarusian hybrid actions. Just last week, the Polish Border Guard, supported by Europol, successfully targeted a large criminal network smuggling migrants from Belarus and Russia into the EU. The investigation was conducted within the framework of a Europol Operational Task Force, made up of authorities from Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Ukraine. As Europol stated, the action days between 14 and 16 October led to 11 arrests of mainly Polish, Russian, and Ukrainian nationals and the seizure of electronic equipment and around PLN 80 000 in cash. According to the investigation, the criminal network charged smuggling fees of about EUR 5 000 per person, sometimes in cryptocurrency. Migrants each had to pay a further EUR 500 to the drivers in Poland for transporting them to their final destination in Western Europe. The investigation revealed that most of the suspects were involved in recruiting drivers in Poland to transport migrants from the Belarusian border to the German border. One example involved a Russian citizen who officially ran a car rental business in Poland but was actually recruiting drivers and providing vehicles for transporting irregular migrants to countries throughout the EU.

Written by: Francesco Marino