Author: migrantsatsea.org | 21 October 2018
Frontex reported last week that “in the first nine months of 2018, the number of irregular border crossings into the EU via the top four migratory routes fell by a third from a year ago to about 100,100, mainly because of lower migratory pressure on the Central Mediterranean route. In September, some 12,900 irregular crossings were detected on the main migratory routes into the EU, 21% fewer than in the same month of last year.” “For the third consecutive month, the Western Mediterranean migratory route accounted for half of all detections of illegal borders crossings into the EU. The number of migrants reaching Europe via this [Western] route reached nearly 6 500 in September, four times the number from the same month of last year.”
These numbers do not, however, suggest a shifting of the migration movement from the Central and Eastern Mediterranean routes to the Western Mediterranean route: “Nationals of Morocco, Guinea and Mali accounted for the highest number of irregular migrants crossing [the Western Mediterranean] route this year. People from sub-Saharan countries represented more than three-quarters of all detections in the Western Mediterranean.” “Tunisians and Eritreans were the two most represented nationalities on [the Central Mediterranean] route, together accounting for more than one-third of all the detected migrants there. They were trailed by nationals of Sudan, Pakistan and Nigeria.” ‘The largest number of migrants on [Eastern Mediterranean] route so far this year were nationals of Syria and Iraq, although for the second consecutive month Afghans accounted for the most monthly arrivals.” Read more>>>