Number of migrants reaching EU sharply rises

The number of migrants arriving in the European Union rose by 86%t between January and July compared to the same period last year, the European border agency Frontex said Friday (12 August).

In July alone, the number increased by 63% year on year to 34,570, according to a news release publishing the preliminary data.

Overall, 155,090 migrants arrived in the EU from January to July, it said.

Ukrainian refugees entering the EU through border crossings were not included in the figures, the agency said.

According to Frontex, 7.7 million Ukrainian citizens have entered the EU since the start of the Russian invasion in February. These entries however are not considered as irregular as EU countries treat Ukrainians as war refugees.

More than 14,866 irregular entries, “nearly three times more” than in July last year, were recorded via the Western Balkan route, which continues to be “the most active”.

The main nationalities on this route were migrants from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey.

The central Mediterranean route was used by more than 42,500 migrants between January and July, an increase of 44% compared to the first seven months of last year.

The number of detections on the Eastern Mediterranean route remained high with 22,601 arrivals, “more than double” compared to last year.

The number of arrivals in Cyprus accounted for more than half of the total number of detections, with most migrants coming from Syria, Nigeria and Congo.

On the EU’s eastern border, the number of illegal crossings has fallen by 32% since the start of the year, to 2,923.

The main nationalities present on this route were Ukrainian, Iraqi and Belarusian nationals.

Channel crossings, meanwhile, increased by 55% compared to January-July 2021, to 28,000 cases detected, according to Frontex.