Irregular Border Crossings to EU Increased by 63% Last July Compared to Same Month 2021

In the first seven months of this year, from the beginning of January to the end of July, irregular border crossings detected at the EU’s external borders increased by 86 per cent compared to the same period of 2021, reaching about 155,090 irregular entries, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.

According to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex), in the month of July alone, the Member States detected about 34,570 irregular crossings, an increase of 63 per cent compared to the July of 2021, without counting the number of people coming from Ukraine.

“People fleeing Ukraine and entering the EU through border crossing points are not part of the figures of illegal entries detected. According to the latest Frontex data, 7.7 million Ukrainian nationals have fled Ukraine into the EU since the start of the war,” Frontex notes in its monthly report on illegal border crossers detected at the EU’s borders.

It also points out that a significant number of Ukrainian nationals have already returned to their country in spite of the war still going on.

Regarding migratory routes, the Western Balkan remains the most active one, with 14,866 detections on this route marked in July, while for the seven months in total, it accounted for half of all irregular migrants detected at the EU’s borders.

“The Western Balkan route accounted for half of all the detections with 70 770 illegal crossings, nearly three times the total from the same period of last year. The main nationalities on this route included migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey,” Frontex reveals.

The number remains high in the Central Mediterranean route with slightly fewer detections than in Western Balkans, with the Frontex border guards stopping 14,800 migrants from entering the EU illegally through this route.

The main nationalities attempting to reach the EU through this bloc are:

• Egyptians
• Tunisians
• Libyans

However, in spite of the increase in other routes, irregular border crossings detected on the Western Mediterranean route and the Eastern land border were down by 25 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively, compared to the same period last year. While most migrants detected on the first were Moroccans, the majority of irregular migrants on the latter were from Ukraine, Iraq and Belarus.

The number of irregular migrants attempting to cross the Channel towards the UK in small boats also marked an increase of 55 per cent.

Irregular migration remains one of the EU’s biggest challenges, with criminal organizations that facilitate irregular entry into Europe, either by smuggling migrants in, distributing fake documents, or other ways, being dismantled weekly.

Only this week, Spain dismantled a criminal organization facilitating irregular migration to the country, arresting seven persons, who had benefited more than €100,000 through their criminal activity. At the end of July, on the other hand, the Spanish police arrested around 90 people for facilitating irregular entry into the country for more than 700 people.