Eastern Med sees drop in migration flows in Sept

The Eastern Mediterranean was the only route into the European Union that saw a drop in detections of illegal border crossings in September, Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, said on Friday.

Frontex said there were 13,190 detections in the the region between January and September, down 17% from the same period of last year.

In September, 1,590 illegal crossings were registered on this route, 18% more than last year.

Cyprus accounted for nearly half of all arrivals this year and about 60% in September.

Most migrants came from Syria, Turkey, Afghanistan and Congo (DRC).

The number of illegal border crossings on the EU’s external borders in the first nine months of 2021 rose 68% to 133,900, according to preliminary calculations. This figure represents 47% more than in 2019 before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the number of illegal border crossings amounted to 91,000.

In September, there were 23,630 illegal border crossings on Europe’s main migratory routes, 40% more than in 2020 when pandemic-related border restrictions were in place. It is also an increase of 17% compared with September 2019.

The most significant increase was reported on the Central Mediterranean and Western Balkan routes.