Europe has witnessed the lowest number of detected illegal border-crossings since the refugee crisis began four years ago, EU border agency Frontex said on Tuesday. On the other hand, more and more migrants are expected to arrive through Spain.
Frontex reported on Tuesday that the number of people illegally crossing into the European Union had fallen by 60 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year.
"The annual total of 204,700 marked a significant decrease compared to recent years, but not yet a return to the situation before 2014," Frontex told AFP. The decline was prominent on the eastern Mediterranean migratory route connecting Turkey and Greece as well as on the central Mediterranean route which connects Libya and Italy.
On the other hand, the Western Mediterranean route, which runs from Morocco to Spain, saw an increase in migrant crossings. "Domestic issues in Morocco, the main transit country for migrants heading to Spain, created an opening for more departures from Morocco's western coast in particular, which starting from the second quarter of the year led to the use of high-capacity boats able to transport large numbers of migrants," the Warsaw-based agency continued.
More arrivals in Spain
Fabrice Leggeri, the head of the Frontex agency, told AP that the around 21,000 unauthorized migrants, mostly from Morocco, Algeria and Guinea, entered Spain by way of the western Mediterranean route in 2017. On Sunday, AFP reported that 16 migrants died off the coast of Spain's enclave of Melilla.
Leggeri also mentioned that crossings into Greece are down 80 percent from last year but there is "still a lot of pressure" on that country. The 2016 EU deal with Turkey put a stop to many of the irregular arrivals coming to Greece.
EU countries are also deporting fewer and fewer unauthorized migrants. "The number of return decisions made by member states has slightly decreased, and this will be a challenge," Leggeri said.
In Africa, Libya remains the main transit country for migrants headed to Europe via the Mediterranean. Leggeri told AP that "The situation in Libya is not acceptable from a humanitarian perspective. I wouldn't sign an operational plan saying that rescued migrants should be disembarked to Libya." According to Reuters, numbers of migrants traveling from Libya to Italy have decreased as of July last year. One of the reasons for this is that Libyan authorities began to block departures from the coast, especially from Sabratha.