In January 1,533 migrants and
refugees arrived irregularly in the EU via the central
Mediterranean route leading from north Africa to Italy, the EU
border agency Frontex said on Monday.
This represented a 71% drop compared to December 2023.
The main countries of origin of new arrivals on the Central
Mediterranean route in January were Tunisia, Bangladesh and
Syria, added Frontex.
Overall in January, irregular border crossings into the EU fell
to a total of 14,000, down about one-third from December and
roughly in line with the total in January 2023.
The only migration route to buck the downward trend was the one
leading from West Africa to the Canary Islands, which saw 6,643
irregular arrivals in January, up 48% over the previous month
and ten times the figure reported in January 2023.
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