Migrant crossings from Libya to Italy surge in early 2025

Migrant crossings from Libya to Italy have increased by 63% in the first two months of 2025, according to a report in The Times, citing Frontex, the EU’s border agency. Overall, the number of migrants departing from North Africa and arriving on Italian shores has risen by nearly 40%.

This sharp increase has intensified scrutiny of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s controversial agreements with Tunisia and Libya, aimed at curbing the flow of migrants. The deals, which involve millions of dollars in funding to both nations, have faced backlash due to allegations of human rights abuses and accusations that local coast guards are complicit in human trafficking.

Nevertheless, there were seen as effective in curtailing migrant crossings. Sailings from North Africa to Italy dropped 58% last year. The question is whether the agreements are still effective.

Most migrants arriving from Libya this year are from Bangladesh and Pakistan. Many reportedly fly into Libya before paying smugglers around $8,000 to secure a spot on boats bound for Italy. Frontex notes that smugglers have begun using faster, more elusive boats, making interceptions increasingly difficult.

“In January alone, nearly 30 of these boats, carrying around 1,500 people, were detected,” a Frontex spokesperson told The Times.

Meloni met with eastern Libyan leader Khalifa Haftar in 2023, persuading him to prevent fishing boats packed with migrants from departing his region’s shores.

“She did not, however, manage to stop Haftar facilitating the arrival in eastern Libya of flights carrying migrants who now simply travel by land over to western Libya to set sail from there.” Jalel Harchaoui, an analyst at the RUSI think tank in London told the Times.

Western Libyan leader Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh has reportedly voiced frustration over the rising number of Bangladeshi and Pakistani migrants arriving in his territory.