Illegal migration to EU soars — RT World News
The number of ‘irregular entries’ has already reached 2016 levels, according to the bloc’s border agency
The number of irregular crossings to the EU rose sharply in the first nine months of 2022 from a year earlier, reaching its highest level since 2016, the border agency Frontex said on Thursday.
“In the first nine months of this year, almost 228,240 irregular entries were detected at the external borders of the European Union, according to preliminary calculations. This represents a 70% increase over the same period last year and is the highest total recorded for the first three quarters of the year since 2016,” says the agency.
The Western Balkan route has become the hotspot for illegal migration this year, with over 100,000 irregular entries recorded. The majority of migrants seeking to enter the EU through this route are from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey, the agency noted.
The Central Mediterranean route, where migrants undertake daring journeys in various dinghies in an attempt to enter the EU, remains the second most popular route, with some 65,000 illegal entries. The majority of illegal migrants on this route come from Tunisia, Egypt and Bangladesh, according to Frontex.
The illegal migration figures do not include the massive influx of refugees from Ukraine, Frontex noted, since they entered the bloc’s territory through border checkpoints. According to the agency’s latest figures,more than 11 million Ukrainian nationals entered the EU from Ukraine,” amid the ongoing conflict between kyiv and Moscow. However, an unspecified « significant number » Ukrainians have already returned home, Frontex noted.
You can share this story on social media:
rt
