Irregular EU border crossings from central Mediterranean fell by 64 percent this year

Nearly 17,000 would-be asylum seekers crossed into the 27-member EU via the Western Balkans, a 79 percent drop.

Wednesday 16/10/2024

A woman looks on from a fiberglass boat with other migrants, waiting to be assisted by NGO Open Arms in international waters south of Lampedusa, in the central Mediterranean Sea, August 11, 2024. REUTERS


BRUSSELS

Detected irregular crossings into the European Union fell 42 percent in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, EU border agency Frontex said on Tuesday.

Frontex released its latest statistics shortly before a summit of the bloc’s leaders in Brussels later this week, where immigration is among topics high on the agenda.

The number of detected crossings into the EU “fell by 42 percent to 166,000 in the first nine months of this year”, Frontex said.

It said the biggest falls were along the routes through the Western Balkans and Central Mediterranean.

Nearly 17,000 would-be asylum seekers crossed into the 27-member EU via the Western Balkans, a 79 percent drop. Some 47,700 entered via the Central Mediterranean, a fall of 64 percent.

By contrast, Frontex said crossings via the Western African route had doubled, reaching over 30,600 in the first nine months of the year.

The biggest rise was registered at the EU’s eastern land borders, including into Poland. Almost 13,200 crossings were detected, a 192 percent increase on January-September 2023.

Poland and its Central European neighbour, the Czech Republic, called last week for EU restrictions that are tougher than those in the bloc’s new pact on migration and asylum, which is due to come into force in 2026.

The rules, adopted in May, aim to share the responsibility for hosting asylum seekers across the 27 countries in the EU and to speed up the deportation of people deemed ineligible to stay.