The number of detections of irregular crossings of the external borders of the European Union (EU) increased by 12 percent between January and May compared to the same period in 2022, ‘thrown’ through the Central Mediterranean route, Frontex announced today.
According to data from the European Coast and Border Guard Agency (Frontex), the central Mediterranean route – used to reach the EU (Malta and the Italian regions of Lampedusa, Calabria and Sicily) from North Africa – remains the most active, with more than 50,300 detections reported in the first five months of the year, the highest number since 2017 and an increase of 160 percent compared to the same period in 2022.
On other routes, the number of irregular crossing detections decreased, with an emphasis on the Eastern Mediterranean (irregular arrivals in Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria) which registered a 35% drop to 10,285 crossings detected and the Western Balkans (less than 25% to 30 717 ).
Source: TSF
