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GreekReporter.comGreeceIllegal EU Border Crossings Down in August, Drop in East Mediterranean Arrivals

Illegal EU Border Crossings Down in August, Drop in East Mediterranean Arrivals

Photo Credit: AMNA

According to data from Frontex the European Union’s border protection agency, the number of illegal border crossings into Europe were down 30% in the month of August.
In the first eight months of 2020, the number of illegal entries into the European Union were down 14% from last year’s figures, for a total of 60,800.
This reduction is thought to be due, in part, to a drop in entries through the eastern and western Mediterranean routes.
Entries through the central Mediterranean, however, accounted for nearly half of all illegal border crossings in August.
Most migrants entering through this route, which often includes sea travel to Italy from North Africa, were from Tunisia, while the rest were from Bangladesh.
The western Mediterranean route, once the most popular route for entry into Europe, connects Morocco with Spain. There were 1,600 illegal entries into Europe in August through that route, seven percent less than in July.
The total number of crossings through the route in the first eight months of 2020 was nearly half of last year’s figure, coming only to 8,200.
From January to August, 2020, nearly two thirds of migrants reaching Europe through the western Mediterranean were from Algeria, while the rest were from Morocco.
In August, only 900 individuals illegally entered Europe through the eastern Mediterranean. The eastern Mediterranean route includes both sea and land travel from Turkey into Greece.
In the first eight months of this year, the total number of illegal crossings through the this route was 14,200, down nearly two thirds from last year’s data.
The majority of the migrants who entered through this route were from Afghanistan, Syria, and Turkey.
 
Migratory Map of Europe. Credit: Frontex

 

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