According to a Frontex estimate, irregular migration into the EU will decrease by 38% in 2024
Frontex, the bloc's border control agency, said that there were much fewer illegal border crossings into the EU in 2024, which it ascribed to increased collaboration against smuggling networks.
Frontex, the bloc's border control agency, said that there were much fewer illegal border crossings into the EU in 2024, which it ascribed to increased collaboration against smuggling networks. In a statement, the Warsaw-based organization stated that its first statistics from the previous year showed a 38% decrease in unauthorized border crossings into the 27-member EU.The data is not the overall number of individuals who attempted to cross, but rather the number of irregular border crossings detected at the EU's external borders. According to Frontex, there are instances where the same individual may cross the external border many times in various areas. Notwithstanding the general decline, the agency stated that problems still exist, including risky maritime crossings that claim a large number of lives and the changing strategies of smuggling organizations.There is a perception that there is too much-uncontrolled immigration to Europe, even if the number of irregular immigrants has decreased. Since the influx of over a million migrants in 2015, many of whom were escaping the Syrian conflict, the issue has taken centre stage in European politics. Far-right parties that vehemently oppose taking in large numbers of refugees and migrants, notably in countries like Austria and Germany, have been strengthened by the problem.Due to fewer departures from Tunisia and Libya, the Central Mediterranean route had a 59% drop in arrivals, which was the primary cause of the overall decline, according to Frontex. Following measures to stop arrivals in the Western Balkan area, it also recorded a 78% decrease in detections on that route.Last year, there was an increase in unauthorized immigration along the EU's eastern borders with Belarus. The Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago near the African coast that is increasingly being exploited as an alternate stepping stone to mainland Europe, had an 18% spike in arrivals, according to Frontex.It said that the over 47,000 arrivals it counted there were the most since it started keeping track in 2009.Although there was a notable decrease in unauthorized border crossings in 2024, Hans Leijtens, Executive Director of Frontex, said that the year also brought to light new threats and changing circumstances. While escalating insecurity in countries like the Sahel continues to encourage migration towards Europe, authorities have observed an increase in violence by traffickers along the Western Balkan route, according to the Frontex statement.
