Although the eastern Mediterranean and Balkan area registered growing migratory pressure, the number of irregular border crossings detected on the European Union's external borders in 2019 fell to the lowest level since 2013 due to a drop in the number of people reaching European shores via the central and western Mediterranean routes, EU border agency Frontex has reported.
According to preliminary 2019 data collected by Frontex and discussed by the agency's executive director Fabrice Leggeri at a press conference Friday, the total number of irregular migrants detected in the eastern Mediterranean went up approximately 46% in 2019.
Roughly 14,000 irregular crossings were detected at the EU's borders on the Western Balkan route last year - more than double the 2018 figure, the agency reported.
Meanwhile irregular crossings fell roughly 41% to around 14,000 in the central Mediterranean and 58% in the western Mediterranean to around 24,000, Frontex said.
Overall, Frontex said preliminary data showed a 6% fall in illegal border crossings along the EU's external borders to just over 139,000 - 92% below the record number set in 2015.
Nationals of Tunisia and Sudan accounted for the largest share of detections on the central Mediterranean route with Moroccans and Algerians making up the largest percentage in the western Mediterranean, Frontex also reported.
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