Migration and police border controls with firearms

In the early hours of 17 May 2018, a van used by a people-trafficking network was carrying around thirty migrants from Iraq and Syria across Belgium, when it was intercepted by the Belgian police. During the chase, an officer shot at the vehicle, and a bullet hit and killed a two-year-old Kurdish girl who was travelling inside the van with her family. Her name was Mawda Shawri. In 2021, a court found the police officer guilty of involuntary homicide. The case generated huge controversy as to the use of arms by the police in migration control operations.

Elsewhere in Europe, fatal incidents have also been documented in connection with migration control operations. In Bulgaria, for example, a border guard killed an Afghan migrant in 2015 while in pursuit close to the Turkish border. On the River Evros border between Greece and Turkey, organisations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have over recent years denounced gunfire and the use of force against those trying to cross the frontier. More recently, in 2025, the police chase of a van smuggling people ended in an accident in which six migrants died.

In Spain, one of the most well-known episodes was the Tarajal tragedy in Ceuta in February 2014, when at least 15 people died in their attempt to reach the coast, while Civil Guard officers used anti-riot equipment to prevent them from crossing. The case opened up an intense debate, which remains ongoing, as to the use of force in monitoring Europe's borders.