The figures seem to contradict the European rightwing’s rhetoric according to which EU countries faces an unchecked and growing threat of illegal migration south of the border. Frontex said it detected around 124,000 “illegal border crossings” last year, a drop of 13% over 2019. The number of attempted entries via the eastern Mediterranean, which mostly involves crossings from Turkey to the Greek islands, dropped by three-quarters to around 20,000. Those from northern Africa via the western Mediterranean into Spain dropped by almost a third to 17,000, Frontex said. The number of crossings from western Africa to Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean rose eightfold over the year to 22,600.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 09, 2021 11:26 UTC