The Spanish border with Morocco constitutes one of the most problematic points. /
The Western Balkans route is the most used, but Frontex warns of the pressure suffered by the Central Mediterranean
) A total of 155,090 people have entered Europe irregularly between January 1 and July 31, 2022, as reported on Monday by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), which has also warned of that this figure represents an increase of 86% with respect to the numbers that were handled in the same period last year.
In this sense, the agency has indicated that, in July alone, the EU member states registered 34,570 irregular arrivals at their borders, 63% more than in the same month of 2021.
As reported by Frontex, in a statement collected by Europa Press, the Western Balkans continue to be the most active migratory route to the Union with 14,866 detections in July, almost three times more than last year. In fact, it has pointed out that this route represents half of all detections in this area, with 70,770 illegal entries. This is nearly three times the total for the same period last year. The main nationalities on this route included immigrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey.
Mediterranean
On the other hand, and although it is not the most numerous route, Frontex has warned that the pressure is “very high” in the central Mediterranean with “daily arrivals” that, as they have explained, “put pressure on reception capacities in Italy”. In this case, in the first seven months of 2022, 42,549 irregular arrivals have been recorded, 44% more than in the same period of 2021.
In July alone, people who entered the EU irregularly reached 14,800, which is 60% more than a year earlier. On this route, the agency has explained that, although Tunisians (30%) were the main nationality registered on this route last month, in the general data for the year it is Egyptians who used it the most, mainly from Libya.
As for the Western Mediterranean, 6,434 irregular entries were detected, 25% less than last year. In this sense, they have explained that “criminal smuggling networks tried to take advantage of calm weather conditions to organize simultaneous outings on jet skis.” “Most of the migrants detected on this route came from Morocco,” Frontex said.
Similarly, experts have highlighted that the number of irregular migrants seeking to cross the Channel into the UK on small boats remained “high” with around 28,000 detections, including attempts and crossings, representing a 55% increase in the same period in 2021. In his opinion, this growth is related “to the improvement in seasonal weather conditions and the possible impact of the new UK migration plan.”
displaced by war
This year, the agency has highlighted the situation suffered by people who flee from Ukraine and enter the EU through border crossings and who, as it has pointed out, are not part of the numbers of illegal entries detected. Even so, he has indicated that there have been 7.7 million Ukrainian citizens who have fled their country to the EU since the beginning of the war (last February). “At the same time, a significant number of Ukrainian citizens have returned to their country,” Frontex noted.