At least 110 people criminalised in the EU for helping migrants in 2025

At least 110 people faced judicial proceedings in the EU as a form of criminalisation for helping migrants, between January and December 2025. People were criminalised for trying to rescue people in distress at sea or in border areas, for participating in civil disobedience actions, providing legal aid or information, or offering food, water and/or shelter to migrants. 

Silvia Carta, Advocacy Officer at PICUM and author of the study, said: “It’s quite a dystopic reality that in today’s Europe, one can face trial and fines and even prison simply for helping others in need. But let’s not forget that the criminalisation of solidarity is the logical extension of policies that punish migration and migrants in the first place.” 

The figures stem from media monitoring and research conducted by the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM) and its partners Groupe d’information et de soutien des immigré·es (Gisti), Greek Council for Refugees (GCR), Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), Oxfam Italia and Ocalenie Foundation throughout 2025, in the framework of EU-funded project WING. This is most likely an undercount, as statistical and official data is often lacking, and many cases go unreported because people fear retaliation, especially migrants themselves. In addition, some cases reported by the media might not have been detected by our monitoring system. Nonetheless, this data confirms a concerning, ongoing trend observed in previous reports. At least 142 people were criminalised in the EU in 2024.  At least 117 people in 2023, at least  102  in 2022, and at least 89  between January 2021 and March 2022. 

Our monitoring found that most people who faced judicial proceeding were in Greece (50), Poland (20), Italy (19), and France (14). Other cases were found in Latvia, Malta, Slovenia, and Cyprus. Among them, 41 people were criminalised for rescuing or helping migrants in distress at sea. 17 were criminalised for participating in protests and other forms of civil disobedience. 12 were criminalised for helping people cross a border, 10 for providing legal aid and information, and 8 for offering food, water and clothing. Other actions criminalised include monitoring violations or providing shelter to migrants. 

In over 60% of the cases, people were charged with facilitation of entry, stay or transit or migrant smuggling (depending on how the crime is defined in the national legislation). Other charges used to criminalise people include belonging to or forming a criminal organisation, forgery and use of false documents, fraud, and acts of terrorism. The breadth and severity of these charges remain strikingly disproportionate to the actions criminalised. 

The average length of the proceedings recorded by our monitoring is over three years. In 2025, court proceedings were concluded for 41 of the 110 individuals criminalised. Almost all (38) were acquitted or had their charges dropped. Three people were convicted and given a suspended sentence. Even if a case may end in an acquittal, trials still have heavy consequences on people’s finances, personal life, and psychological wellbeing. 

In addition to the cases of judicial criminalisation, the report also found that at least 11 civil society organisations have been subject to administrative fines and sanctions. Most of these were search and rescue organisations operating in the Mediterranean. Moreover, in 2025, we registered at least 33 cases of non-judicial harassment, such as intimidation and smear campaigns that targeted both individuals and civil society actors. 

Notable cases

France

• Seven Basque activists were brought to trial because they helped 36 migrants cross from Spain to France in 2024, during the local “Korrika” race. The judge eventually acquitted them in January 2026. 
• The president of local support group Germà was taken into police custody in Perpignan in October 2025, and her house was searched in connection to her work supporting unaccompanied children. She was interrogated for five hours without a break before being released with no charges. (source: anonymous testimony collected by GISTI) 

Greece

• Tommy Olsen, founder of pushback watchdog Aegean Boat Report, was arrested in Norway in March 2026 following a European Arrest Warrant issued by Greece in 2025, where he’s sought for helping people to safety and documenting pushbacks by the Greek coast guard. 
• 24 humanitarian search and rescue workers and volunteers endured seven years of legal proceedings and faced up to 20 years in prison for helping people land safely on the island of Lesvos. They were eventually acquitted in January 2026. 
• Dutch journalist Ingeborg Beugel was prosecuted for hosting an asylum seeker while he was appealing a negative asylum decision. She was convicted at first instance and acquitted on appeal in November 2025 after a four-year court case. 

Italy

• Six crew members of the humanitarian organisation Mediterranea are currently facing serious criminal charges following a rescue operation carried out in September 2020. This is the first time that staff from a search and rescue organisation are not only investigated, but formally indicted. 

Poland

• The Hajnowka 5, five activists who helped people stranded at the Belarusian border, were charged with migrant smuggling. They were eventually acquitted in September 2025, and the prosecutor decided not to appeal the acquittal in March 2026. 

The new EU Facilitation Directive 

Criminalisation trends are likely to worsen due to a proposal to revise the current EU legislation on migrant smuggling (EU Facilitation Directive). The proposal from the European Commission, currently under negotiation  in the European Parliament, leaves the door open to the criminalisation of humanitarian assistance and could expand the grounds for criminalising migrants. 

Silvia Carta said, “The proposed Facilitation Directive risks leading to more people being arrested or brought to trial for helping people in need, and to migrants themselves being accused of smuggling. Human dignity and human rights are core values of the European Union. As the negotiations advance, the European Parliament must uphold these values and codify into law that no one should face prosecution simply because they crossed a border or helped people in need.” 

NOTES TO THE EDITORS: 

• The report is available here. It includes the full list of monitored cases, detail on the most significant cases and more information on counter-smuggling legislation. The report also documents 13 cases of administrative sanctions against NGOs, activists and other actors, as well as 33 cases of non-judicial harassment against NGOs and individuals. Past reports can be found here.
• This report focuses on the criminalisation of solidarity and does not document the criminalisation of migrants themselves, which falls outside its scope. However, the two phenomena should not be understood as separate issues. The criminalisation of solidarity with migrants exists on a continuum with the criminalisation of migration itself, both being rooted in restrictive migration policies that make border crossing unsafe and create a hostile environment against those considered to have entered or to reside in an irregular manner. 
• The WING project (‘EmpoWerING Actors in Civic Space Protection’) is a transnational initiative responding to the growing criminalisation of solidarity and the shrinking of civic spaces across Europe. Project partners include: Greek Council for Refugees (GCR, Greece), Groupe d’information et de soutien des immigré·es (Gisti, France), Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC, Hungary), Fondazione ISMU – Iniziative E Studi sulla Multietnicità (Project coordinator, Italy), Ocalenie Foundation (Poland), Oxfam Italia (Italy). Their support was instrumental in strengthening the monitoring of criminalisation and other cases. 
• The draft EU Facilitation Directive is a set of measures announced by the European Commission in November 2023, which aim at countering migrant smuggling. The measures focus on criminalising and punishing so-called smugglers (often, migrants themselves) without tackling the root causes of smuggling (i.e. the lack of safe regular routes for people to come to Europe). The new proposal, largely validated by the EU Council in December 2024, fails to introduce a clear and binding exception from criminalisation for humanitarian assistance by NGOs, family members or migrants themselves. PICUM’s position on the proposal can be found here.