Illegal crossings of European Union borders decreased by 42% in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period the previous year, Frontex announced.
The greatest reduction was found in Western Balkan Route (-79%) and she Central Mediterranean (-64%).
But the crossings detected with West African origin doubled (+100%) and almost tripled in the almost 6,000 kilometers of the European Union’s eastern land border (+192%), according to the Frontex announcement.
Frontex clarifies that numbers refer to the number of irregular crossings detected and not in the number of people, since a person can cross the external borders of the European Union several times and in different places.
The largest number of migrant or refugee crossings detected by Frontex occurred in the Mediterranean Sea or the English Channel towards Great Britain.
From January to September, there were 47,710 irregular crossings in the Central Mediterranean via Italy, 45,610 (+15%) in the Eastern Mediterranean via Turkey or Greece and 11,483 (-1%) in the Western Mediterranean to Spain.
In the English Channel, the number of detected crossings increased to 47,514 between January and September (+2% compared to the first nine months of 2023).
Illegal crossings detected originating from West Africa they arrived 30.616.
On the Western Balkan route, through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary or Croatia, Frontex detected 16,698 irregular crossings.
On the European Union’s 6,000km eastern land border with Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, the Baltic States, Poland, Romania, Norway and Russia, the number of crossings detected during this period reached 13,195.
THE three countries Where do the largest number of immigrants on European borders come from? Syriathe Mali and the Ukraine.
Source: AMPE