EU Responds to Belarus Border Situation, Proposes Blacklisting Transport Operators
The European Commission released a proposal Nov. 23 for a framework to "blacklist" transport companies involved in trafficking people into the European Union. The proposed measures are in response to the ongoing situation at the Belarus-EU border. They include limiting transport operations in the union, suspending the right to give transport services to or within the EU, suspending the right to pass through or fly over EU territory, withholding the right to refuel or carry out maintenance within the EU, suspending the right to call into or enter EU ports and withdrawing operation licenses.
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"Many transport operators have policies in place to avoid, to the best of their ability, becoming an accessory to trafficking and smuggling," the proposal said. "However, in some cases such policies are not in place or not well implemented. Recent events have also shown how migrants can be instrumentalised for political purposes, and how certain transport operators have been contributing to -- and in some cases benefiting from -- smuggling and trafficking operations that have put at risk the lives of vulnerable people and the security of the Union external borders. Therefore, in order to avoid such situations, it is necessary to adopt legislation targeted at transport operators that facilitate or engage in the trafficking in persons, or the smuggling of migrants in relation to illegal entry into the Union territory."