Boats from Eastern Libya: How Europe Is Bowing to a Libyan Warlord on Migration

Boats from Eastern Libya How Europe Is Bowing to a Libyan Warlord on Migration Officials at the headquarters of Europe’s border control agency Frontex, located in Warsaw, have seen a lot. On their screens, they keep watch on one of the most important refugee routes to Europe: across the central Mediterranean. Drones and aircraft are constantly transmitting images – frequently of boats in distress, of fatal accidents, sometimes of violence. DER SPIEGEL relies on support from its readers. To enjoy the rest of this story, please consider signing up for a subscription to The German View, our English-language channel on Substack. The article can be found here and our Substack channel can be found here . Alternatively, you can sign up for a SPIEGEL+ subscription below. But what they witnessed on October 12, 2025, was beyond the norm. That day, as the officials would later document the incident, a fishing boat was heading north across the Mediterranean. Crowded on board were 140 people who had set off from the Libyan coast.