More than 228,000 irregular border crossings have already been registered since January, an increase of 70 percent compared to the same period last year. In almost half the people came via the Balkans.
Irregular migration to the EU is, according to the EU Border Protection Agency Frontex at the highest level since 2016. Between January and September, around 228,000 illegal border crossings were detected, it said Frontex on Thursday in Warsaw. This corresponds to an increase of a whopping 70 percent compared to the same period last year. Ukrainian refugees are not included in this number.
According to Frontext, with 106,396 cases, most people came via the Western Balkans route – an increase of even 170 percent compared to the same period last year. These were predominantly Syrians, Afghans and Turks. The high number of illegal border crossings can also be attributed to repeated crossing attempts by migrants who had already been in the Western Balkans for a long time.
The second most common route for people to come was via the central Mediterranean route, i.e. from Libya to Italy. Along the way, 65,572 people attempted to enter the EU – an increase of 42 percent. About this route came loud Frontex above all Tunisians, Egyptians and Bangladeshis, who actually have little chance of being recognized as refugees. Also loud is the number of migrants attempting to cross the English Channel to Britain, usually on small boats Frontex gone up. This year by the end of September there were almost 53,000, more than in the entire previous year.
(WHAT/AFP)