Frontex: Illegal Migrant Entries To EU Have Passed 275,000 In 2022

Frontex, the European Union border agency, has reported that there have been over 275,000 illegal crossings into the EU in the first ten months of the year, figures not seen since the migrant crisis in 2016.

Frontex released a report on Monday stating that 275 500 irregular entries across EU borders were detected in the first ten months of this year, a 73 per cent increase from the same period in 2021, with over 36,000 illegal entries in October alone.

The Western Balkan route remains the most active in Europe and saw over 22,300 illegal border crossing detections in October, a rate three times higher than October of 2021, while overall the rate of illegal entries along the route in the first ten months of 2022 has increased 168 per cent compared to last year.

“So far this year, the Western Balkan region has registered the highest number of detections since the peak of the migration crisis in 2015. The high number of crossings can be attributed to repeated attempts to cross the border by migrants already present in the Western Balkans, but also to persons abusing visa-free access to the region,” Frontex said.

“Some migrants use visa-free access to travel through Belgrade airport and then head overland towards the EU external borders,” the agency added.

Serbia, which is not a member of the European Union, has been pressured by the EU in recent weeks to restrict visa-free entry for nationals from various countries as migrants enter the country as tourists but end up crossing illegally and attempting to seek asylum in the EU.

“We have seen a significant increase of migrants coming through the Western Balkan route and, not the least, we see those travelling visa-free through Western Balkan partners that come also to the European Union,” Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, said last month.

The Central Mediterranean route to Italy remains the second most popular migration route but saw a slight decrease in arrivals in October compared to October of 2021.

The new Italian government led by firebrand Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to tackle illegal immigration levels, with Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi taking on migrant taxi NGO ships, which have dropped off over 10,000 migrants in Italy this year.

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.