Almost half of the 330,000 arrivals were registered via the Western Balkans route, according to data from the Frontex agency.
European countries saw irregular arrivals at the external border of the European Union (EU) grow last year. In total, nearly 330,000 illegal entries were registered, which is 64% more than in 2021, according to the Frontex agency. These data raise the migratory figures to levels of 2016, when the Mediterranean crisis occurred.
In 2022, almost half of irregular arrivals in the EU were via the Western Balkans route. More specifically, some 145,600 people crossed the Balkan route irregularly, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan, Tunisia and Turkey. Arrivals through the eastern Mediterranean also doubled, with 42,831 migrants, and those registered by the central route, one of the deadliest on the way to Europe, also grew. On the other hand, arrivals to Spain through the Mediterranean route fell -21% less than in 2021- and to the Canary Islands from Africa -31% less-.
The Frontex report details that, of the total number, barely 10% of the irregular crossings detected corresponded to women and another 9% to minors. In addition, the same document includes data on the reception of Ukrainian and Moldovan refugees by European states. It is estimated that some 13 million refugees from these two countries entered the EU and, of these, 10 million have left European territory.
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