‘Illegal border crossings’ on the rise: European Union border agency Frontex

The biggest rise was at the EU’s eastern borders, in the Balkans region and via central Mediterranean Sea crossings, the European Union border agency said.

The number of people trying to enter Europe without authorisation has risen significantly this year to surpass migrant border crossing figures from 2019, before restrictions imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic severely limited travel, the European Union’s border and coast guard said on Tuesday.

Frontex said in a statement that 1,60,000 “illegal border crossings” were recorded in the first 10 months of this year, up 70% compared to the same period in 2020 and 45% more than in 2019. The biggest rise was at the EU’s eastern borders, in the Balkans region and via central Mediterranean Sea crossings.

Almost 8,000 people – most of them Iraqis, Afghans and Syrians – entered through the EU’s eastern frontier; a 15-fold increase over 2020, the agency said.