Frontex: Illegal Border Crossings Recorded on EU External Borders Soared in October
According to preliminary data from Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, the number of illegal border crossings surpassed 73 per cent in 2021, and the Western Balkan route has been the most affected, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
In October, particularly, 36,500 border crossings were recorded, which is 47 per cent more than in 2021. In addition, a total of 2,300 standing officers were deployed at the EU external border.
Out of 36,500 border crossings, 61 per cent of 22,300 detections were recorded in the Western Balkan route, which in the last year has been the most active route for illegal border crossings, with those numbers increasing by three times more than in 2021. The majority of migrants that arrive at this route come from Burundi, Afghanistan and Iraq.
“So far this year, the Western Balkan region has registered the highest number of detections since the peak of the migration crisis in 2015. The high number of crossings can be attributed to repeated attempts to cross the border by migrants already present in the Western Balkans, but also to persons abusing visa-free access to the region,” Frontex explains.
Some migrants take advantage of visa-free access and travel through Belgrade airport to further reach the EU’s external borders. In response to this, Frontex has deployed more than 500 standing officers in the countries nearby the EU external borders in this area.
The number of illegal border crossings has also surged in the Central Mediterranean route, up by 48 per cent, reaching a total of 79,140. However, compared to last year, this route has seen a two per cent decrease in border crossings. Egypt, Tunisia and Bangladesh are the main countries of origin of arrivals on this route.
Another route to experience a slight decrease in border crossings in October was the Western Mediterranean, as a total of 1,895 arrivals were recorded – two per cent less than last year. The main countries of origin include Algeria, Morocco and Syria.
The Eastern Mediterranean route, on the other hand, witnessed an increase of ten per cent in border crossings this month, with migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Congo, among others, recording a total of 2,882 border crossings.
However, two routes experienced evident decreases in illegal border crossings in October – the Western African and the Eastern Border, which dropped by 50 and 44 per cent, respectively.
In total, both routes recorded 1,803, and 441 border crossings and the countries of origin were Morocco, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire. On the other hand, more people from Ukraine and Belarus crossed the border through the Eastern Border.
