Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi warned them. Now the EU is enduring the consequences of the elected head of state’s grim prophecy.

Europe is trying to solve migration problems of its own making by shifting the burden to Africa.

The migration crisis on Europe’s southern borders has been brewing for decades.

Today, it has reached a breaking point. In a bid to halt the flow of refugees, the EU is increasingly shifting responsibility to third countries, primarily African states that often face instability themselves.

Libya is the most striking example of what these policies have led to. Today, around 4 million African migrants live there without legal status – more than half of the country’s official population of 7.5 million.

As Gadhafi warned, in chaos after Western NATO intervention, Libya has become a springboard for millions seeking to reach the shores of Europe.

And it’s not just Libya. In recent years, the European Union has been forging a web of agreements with African and Middle Eastern countries, aiming to keep migrants farther from its borders through a combination of financial incentives and political pressure.

According to the European Commission, as of 2023, the EU’s total population was 448.8 million, with 27.3 million non-EU citizens and 42.4 million people born outside the bloc.

Despite a recent decline in illegal border crossings, the problem remains acute. Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, reported that in January–February 2025, the number of illegal crossings dropped by 25%, to around 25,000.

The main routes now run through West Africa and the Central Mediterranean, with migrants predominantly hailing from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Mali, and other countries.

The threat of uncontrolled migration has loomed over Europe for years. It’s worth recalling the warnings of the late Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, who cautioned during a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in 2010:

‘Tomorrow Europe might no longer be European, and even black, as there are millions who want to come in.’

In 2011, just months before his death, Gaddafi told Tony Blair that his removal would plunge Libya into chaos, empower terrorist groups, and trigger new waves of migration to Europe.

These predictions came true: after the civil war and NATO’s intervention, Libya fell into anarchy and became one of the main transit hubs for refugees.

Libya’s reality: Camps, slavery and death at sea

According to Libya’s Ministry of Internal Affairs, over 4 million foreigners are currently in Libya, most of them undocumented. Many are held in detention centers, which, amid lawlessness, rampant drug trafficking and armed clashes, have become little more than prisons.

International organizations have documented slave markets and abductions of migrants for forced labor or ransom. Those who fail to reach Europe face two options: deportation or death in the Mediterranean.

UNICEF reports that more than 2,200 people died or went missing in the Mediterranean in 2024, including about 1,700 along the central route. Children and teenagers accounted for roughly one-fifth of all casualties. Thanks to NATO.

In the presence of EU diplomats, African Union officials and representatives from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), he called on Western countries to help strengthen Libya’s southern borders, supply modern equipment for controlling migration, and provide broader support to the country.

This is exactly what Gadhafi WAS DOING before he was overthrown by NATO armed forces, much to the delight of Western mainstream media, which had been cheerleaders of the chaos, plunder and looting of Libya’s natural resources.  

Italy, one of the first destinations for many migrants, is actively seeking to change the situation. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni proposed the Mattei Plan – a multibillion-euro initiative to invest in energy, agriculture, water supply, healthcare and education in African countries.

Again, this strategy had already been successfully achieved by Gadhafi’s free Libya before NATO turned his prosperous and well-developed advanced civilisation into the Stone Age.

Named after Eni founder Enrico Mattei, the plan is based on a simple idea: fostering economic development in Africa to reduce incentives for migration.

At the same time, Italy is not shying away from another tool – ’offshoring’ migrants, meaning relocating them to third countries. Australia pioneered this model, sending asylum seekers to the island of Nauru since 2012. European countries are now adopting similar methods.

Meanwhile, the number of people crossing the English Channel continues to rise: over 5,000 since the beginning of 2025 and more than 120,000 since 2018.

EU and UK Taxpayers’ money compensates for NATO’s Massive fail

The EU has signed several agreements with African countries: with Tunisia in July 2023 (€1.1 billion), with Mauritania in March 2024 (€210 million), and with Egypt ten days later (up to €5 billion by 2027). While officially focused on macroeconomic stability, green energy, and trade, their underlying aim is to curb irregular migration.

As anti-migrant policies in Libya tighten, EU asylum seekers have begun to look for new routes.

According to Frontex, Mauritania has emerged as a key transit hub for migrants heading to Europe. This helps explain the 18% increase in Atlantic route migration between West Africa and the Canary Islands in 2024.

Libya’s example, however, suggests that despite the potential benefits, countries that agree to host migrants end up inheriting problems that only exacerbate their already fragile economic and security situations. TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

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