Frontex: Highest number of unauthorized border crossings since 2015
In the first ten months of this year, 331,600 people attempted to enter the EU irregularly. This was the highest figure for this period since 2015, according to the EU border protection agency Frontex in Warsaw. In October alone, Frontex registered 49,600 such attempts, which was 18 percent more than in the same period last year.
On the West Africa route across the Atlantic - i.e. from Morocco, Senegal and Western Sahara to the Canary Islands - the number of entry attempts almost doubled year-on-year to 27,700. According to Frontex, this is the highest figure since statistics began being recorded in 2009.
Most entry attempts via the central Mediterranean
According to the data, the highest number of entry attempts (143,600) were on the route via the central Mediterranean, i.e. from Libya and Tunisia via Sicily and Malta. Frontex has not recorded so many attempts here in the first ten months of a year since 2016. In October, however, the number (9600) fell by half compared to the previous month.
Attempted unauthorized entries (97,300) on the route via the Western Balkans, which was in second place in terms of numbers after the route via the central Mediterranean passage, were down. The decline here was 22 percent compared to the same period last year. Frontex attributes this to stricter visa regulations in the Balkan countries.
Source: www.dpa.com
