Frontex has updated the data on illegal border crossings for May 2020

Defence Redefined

18/06/2020

Frontex updated the data on illegal border crossings, due to a technical problem that occurred with its previous data, which were published a few days ago, due to additional incidents reported in the Eastern and Central Mediterranean. However, it still does not include crossings in Cyprus for May 2020.

Analytically, according to the new data from Frontext, in May, the number of detections on Europe’s main immigration routes recovered from last month’s lowest levels to nearly 3,500.

The total number of illegal border crossings for the first five months of 2020 reached 30,800, 9% lower than the corresponding period of the previous year.

There were about 100 detections on the Eastern Mediterranean route in May. Due to the delayed report, the number is likely to increase, but it will remain among the lowest records.

Also read: European Commission | Turkey sent 12,000 immigrants to the Greek-Turkish border in February

From January to May, more than 11,500 illegal border crossings were detected on this route, 34% less compared to a year ago. Afghans remain the top nationality on this route so far this year.

The number of irregular migrants crossing the Central Mediterranean in May rose by 75%, to about 1,300, compared to the previous month. For the first five months, the total number of migrants exceeded 5,700, almost three times more than the one in the same period in 2019. The top three nationalities found on this route are Bangladesh, Sudan and Ivory Coast.

The number of migrants arriving in Europe via the Western Mediterranean route in May almost quadrupled in April, reaching more than 650. In the first five months, the total amounted to more than 3,700, or less than half of the previous year. Almost half of the migrants found on this route this year were Algerians.

Finally, there have been more than 900 illegal border crossings on the Western Balkans route in May, 10 times more than last month. During the first five months of 2020, the total increased by 50% reaching 6,900 cases, compared to the same period last year.

 

Source: CNA