ZAGREB, March 15, 2019 – In February 2019, the number of detections of illegal border crossings on Europe’s four main migratory routes fell 58% from the previous month, while detections of illegal border crossings on the Western Balkans route in the first two months of this year were 40% more than a year ago.
In February, there were 3,560 illegal border crossing detections on the four main migratory routes, down 58% on the month, in large part due to poor weather conditions in parts of the Mediterranean Sea, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) said on Thursday.
The total for the first two months of the year was roughly in line with a year ago at 11,800.
The Eastern Mediterranean route accounted for the largest percentage of detections of irregular migrants in February, down 31% from the previous month to 2,250. Because of a high number of arrivals in January, the total number of detections on this route rose by one-third in the first two months of 2019 compared to a year ago to almost 5,500.
Two out of every five detected migrants in this corridor were nationals of Afghanistan, usually arriving by sea, while one out of every five was of Turkish nationality, mainly crossing the land border, said Frontex.
Rough weather conditions led to an 80% drop in the number of irregular migrants on the Western Mediterranean route. However, due to a high number of arrivals in January, mainly reaching Spain, the total for the first two months of 2019 stood at more than 4,900, or 83% above the figure from the same period of last year.
Nationals of Morocco accounted for the largest number of detected migrants on this route, said Frontex.
The Central Mediterranean continued to experience falling numbers of irregular migrants. There were 60 migrants detected on this route in February, 70% less than in January. This was the lowest monthly number in nine years. Bangladeshis and Tunisians were the most represented nationalities reaching Italy.
There were more than 420 detections of illegal border crossings recorded on the Western Balkans route in February. The total for the first two months reached nearly 1,200 or 40% more than a year ago. Nationals of Afghanistan accounted for the largest share of migrants detected on this route.
More news on the migrant crisis can be found in the Politics section.
