FRAN QUARTERLY: ILLEGAL BORDER-CROSSINGS DROP BY MORE THAN HALF IN Q2 2016
The detections of illegal border-crossing at EU’s external borders dropped by more than half in the second quarter compared with the same period of 2015. The majority of migrants were detected on the Central Mediterranean route, where more than 51 000 migrants were rescued in international waters and brought to Italy.
On this route, three out of every four migrants departed from Libya, although the share of migrants who set out from Egypt increased to 14%. There were also more departures from Tunisia and Algeria.
Departures from Libya were dominated by migrants from West Africa, especially Nigerians. The Egyptian route was used by migrants from the Horn of Africa, mostly Eritreans and Egyptians.
The Eastern Mediterranean sea route from Turkey to Greece was the second most common entry point to Europe in the second quarter, with some 7 000 arrivals on the Aegean Islands. This represented a 95% drop in comparison with the first three months of this year, when 151 000 of migrants arrived on this route.
The number of irregular border-crossings on the Western Balkan route, mostly a secondary route for migrants who originally arrived in Greece, decreased by 90% between the first and second quarter of 2016 and amounted to 11 000. Afghans accounted for the largest share of the detections.
Between April and July the number of arrested people-smugglers increased by almost 20% to about 3 500, most of them being arrested in Spain.
FRAN Quarterly reports are prepared by the Frontex Risk Analysis Unit to provide a regular overview of irregular migration at the EU’s external borders, based on the irregular migration data exchanged among Member State border-control authorities.