Frontex, the European agency responsible for external borders, has released the figures for irregular immigration in 2016.
Despite the feeling of invasion perceived by a part of the resident population, they have decreased significantly compared to 2015, a record year with nearly 1 million immigrants.
Regarding victims, the number has increased to 3,470 compared to 2,771 in the previous year.
Finally, Italy is the country that has been most affected, with 181,000 people finding refuge there.
Which makes France’s closed border policy even more unjustified and the behavior of the political authorities on the Côte d’Azur intolerable.
France, the homeland of human rights (for secularists) and the eldest daughter of the Church, did you say?
Sorry?
The number of migrants arriving in Europe by sea in 2016 dropped by two-thirds to 364,000 people compared to 2015, with a significant decrease in arrivals via Greece, announced the EU agency responsible for external borders on Friday.
Frontex, however, notes a “record” increase in the number of migrants arriving from Africa via the central Mediterranean, with 181,000 people in 2016, a 20% increase compared to 2015.
But, Frontex notes in a statement, last year 182,500 migrants entered Greece via the Aegean Sea, a decrease of 79% compared to 2015.
The decrease is particularly due to the implementation of an agreement between Brussels and Ankara, which provides for the return to Turkey of any migrant arriving in Greece from March 20 onwards who has not applied for asylum or whose application has been rejected. The decrease is also due to more stringent controls in the Balkans, highlights the European agency based in Warsaw.
Frontex notes an ever “increasing” migratory pressure coming from the African continent, particularly West Africa, with Nigerian migrants among the most numerous.
Since 2010, the number of people coming from West Africa has increased tenfold at Italy’s borders.
In total, in 2016, 503,700 people were apprehended attempting to illegally enter Europe through its external borders, according to Frontex.
