Migrant arrivals to Italy dropped a full 57 percent in the month of July compared to the previous month, according to data from EU border agency Frontex. Numbers were up sharply on the western Mediterranean route to Spain, however, while Greece saw a decline of about 25 percent from June to July.
The EU border agency Frontex reported the number of migrants arriving in Italy through the central Mediterranean fell 57 percent in July compared to the previous month. That makes July the lowest month for migrant arrivals to Italy since 2014, with 10,160 new migrant arrivals for the month.
Total arrivals in Italy over the first seven months of the year were 93,900, which is more or less equivalent to the same period in 2016.
'Various factors' for Italy decline
Frontex cited "various factors" for the significant drop in migrant arrivals coming through the central Mediterranean to the country in July. It said the first half of July brought worsening conditions at sea, which deterred departures. In addition, there were clashes in the coastal city of Sabratha, which is considered a key departure point in Libya for migrants who set out to cross the central Mediterranean headed for Italy.
The presence of the Libyan coast guard patrolling in waters off the coast of Libya was also put forward to explain the decrease in arrivals to Italy. The EU has trained about 100 personnel over the winter to strengthen the Libyan coast guard, yet according to figures from the UN's International Office of Migration (IOM), fewer than 2,000 migrants were intercepted by the coast guard since early July compared to more than 4,000 in May.
The migrants who did arrive in Italy in July were primarily from the African countries of Nigeria, Guinea, Eritrea, Sudan and Mali. In terms of the first seven months of 2017, Nigerians represented the majority of migrant arrivals to Italy - one out of every six - followed by migrants from Bangladesh, Guinea and the Ivory Coast.
Spain up four times on last year, Greece down one-third
Meanwhile in Spain, migrant arrivals have experienced a dramatic spike. Some 2,300 migrants arrived in July, which was a jump of more than four times on July 2016 numbers. Spain has seen around 11,000 migrant arrivals in the seven months since the beginning of the year, more than all of 2016. Frontex said one of the reasons for the large increase in Spain through the western Mediterranean route (both by sea and by land) is due to growing instability in both origin and transit countries on that route.
Recent evacuations of temporary migrant camps in Morocco and Algeria also played a role in pushing migrants to other areas. The majority of the migrants on the western Mediterranean route come from the Ivory Coast, Morocco, Gambia and Guinea.
On the eastern Mediterranean route, continental Greece saw 2,300 migrant arrivals in July, down one-third on June 2017 arrival numbers (with a decrease in land crossings). However, the number of migrants arriving in the Aegean Islands grew. In the first seven months of 2017, a total of 17,750 migrants reached Greece, down a full 90 percent on the same period in 2016. The majority of migrants to Greece thus far this year have come from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
ANSA/ AFP