Illegal Border Crossing in Central Mediterranean Have Doubled Already

Frontex has shown that illegal border crossing in the Central Mediterranean route has doubled.

Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency has shown that there has been a marked increase in illegal detections along the Central Mediterranean route during the first two months 2023.

SchengenVisaInfo.com reports that there were 11,951 illegal border crossings in the January-February period at the Central Mediterranean route. This is an increase of 119 percent compared to 2022.

"Currently, more than 2,400 standing corps officers and Frontex staff are taking part in various operational activities. They support EU member states and neighbouring countries with irregular migration and other challenges at the external borders," Frontex mentions.

Overall, there were 28,130 illegal border crossings in the first two months. The Central Mediterranean route was responsible for two out of five of these irregular border crossings.

This route was the most active during this period with 6,988 and 11,951 respectively in January and February. Top nationalities at this route were from Cote d'Ivoire and Guinea.

These months have also seen an increase in detections at the Eastern Border, with a 145% increase compared to 2022. The number of detections was less than those from other routes with only 131 and 856 respectively in January and February. This route saw the majority of arrivals from Iran, Iraq, and Ukraine.

The exits to the United Kingdom were most affected by irregular borders, with 5,622 and 3,253 border crossings respectively, while the top nationalities in the country were Eritrean, Afghani, and Iraqi.

The Eastern Mediterranean route saw a slight increase in detections compared to last year. It recorded 1,644 detections for January and 3,981 for February. This route was primarily originated from Syria, Afghanistan, and Palestine.

The largest drop in illegal border crossings was recorded on the Western African route where 68% fewer detections were made. The majority of arrivals were from Morocco, Senegal and Cote-d'Ivoire. However, January saw 1,204 and February saw 1,771 detections.

The Western Mediterranean route, which was last year the most affected by illegal crossings, has been less active this year. This route saw 361 and 1 029 illegal border crossings in January and February respectively. The total number of detections is 38 percent lower than those in the same period in 2022. Morocco, Senegal and Algeria were the main sources of arrivals.

Source: schengenvisainfo.com