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Pressure is building up in the European Union on Cham Wings Airlines (SAW, Damascus) due to the carrier's alleged continuous involvement in carrying Bangladeshi and Syrian refugees and migrants to Libya on behalf of human trafficking syndicates.

MaltaToday reported that the gangs are using Cham Wings' services between Damascus and Benghazi in eastern Libya to carry people, who then continue to cross the Mediterranean to Malta or Italy. The sea crossings, usually undertaken on overloaded and unsafe boats, are notoriously dangerous and frequently result in mass drownings.

Intelligence gathered by Frontex, the EU's border policing body, indicates that the refugees are migrants who buy flight tickets from a specific travel agency, pay in cash, and only receive the tickets at Damascus airport. Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows that Cham Wings Airlines operates to Benghazi on a scheduled basis but with varying frequency. In March 2023, the carrier plied the route 2x weekly.

In response to the report, Maltese social democrat Member of the European Parliament Cyrus Engerer said he would ask the European Commission...

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