EU Proposes Blacklisting Travel Firms That Help Smuggle Migrants

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union is preparing a new legal tool to target travel and transportation companies that aid in the trafficking of people into the bloc in an effort to prevent Belarus and other border countries from using irregular migration as a threat against the EU. 

The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, is expected to announce the measures as soon as Tuesday, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. 

The new mechanism aimed at punishing those who facilitate the smuggling of migrants into the EU is the latest response to the crisis at the Belarusian border, where the government has been accused of conducting hybrid attacks against the bloc by sending thousands of irregular migrants to the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. 

The move comes two days after Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned that Europe faces a “synchronized” security threat from the border crisis. Last week, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko appeared willing to deescalate the situation following phone calls with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel.  

According to the documents, the EU believes that recent events could not have taken place without the involvement of some transport operators, knowingly or unknowingly.

Under the proposal being put forward, all transport operators -- covering land, air, inland waterways and sea -- that are seen to engage in or facilitate smuggling or trafficking into the EU could face suspended licenses, limits on their European operations and a freeze on transiting through the EU, according to the documents.

Any measures imposed on operators would be proportionate to the particulars of each case and would not exceed a year before being reviewed, and possibly renewed, the documents said.

Read more: Belarus Moves to De-Escalate Migrant Crisis on EU Border

Earlier this month, the EU’s foreign ministers amended the bloc’s sanction regime so that it can target individuals and entities involved in human trafficking. The EU is currently finalizing a fifth package of sanctions that is expected to impose restrictive measures on about 30 individuals and entities, according to people familiar with the matter.

The EU has so far sanctioned dozens of people and entities over the fraudulent 2020 Belarusian presidential elections and the regime’s crackdown on protesters. The bloc also adopted a series of economic measures following the forced landing of a Ryanair flight in May and the detention of a journalist. There is already talk of a sixth package of measures, the people said.

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