Central Mediterranean Holds The Greatest Migrant Pressure In Europe

You can enlarge the map for a better view of the Frontex data This year it is the most commonly used route by illegal immigrants to enter European territory In the first two months of 2023, around 28,130 migrants have managed to cross European borders illegally.

It is the same figure as in the first two months of last year, but Frontex, the police force controlling EU borders, stopped around 13,800 crossings in February alone, slightly more than a year earlier. The central Mediterranean and western Balkan routes remain the most active. Indeed, the central Mediterranean route is responsible for two out of every five irregular border crossings in the EU.

Not surprisingly, this was the route most used by immigrants in the first two months of the year. Nearly 12,000 'undocumented' cross the region's borders irregularly, twice as many as a year ago. In February, the number of detections on this route tripled from a year earlier to 7,000.

Meanwhile, the western Balkans saw a significant reduction in crossings thanks to Serbia adopting EU visa policy in February. However, it remains the second most active migration route to the EU with approximately 8,400 detainees. It should be noted that this passage also includes data reported by Croatia on the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, by Romania on the border with Serbia, and by Bulgaria on the border with Serbia and North Macedonia.

There was also an increase in the number of unregulated crossings across the English Channel to the United Kingdom in 2023.

In this case there were more than 5,600, 82% more than in the same period in 2022, who attacked the English border.

Citizens of Syria, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Afghanistan and Pakistan hold the largest numbers of detainees.