In the first nine months of this year, 166,000 people tried to enter the EU irregularly, 42% fewer than in the same period last year, the EU border protection agency Frontex said in Warsaw on Tuesday.
However, the number of unauthorized entry attempts via the EU’s eastern land border, especially the route through Belarus to Poland and Lithuania, has increased significantly, with around 13,200 such attempts recorded, an increase of 192%, Frontex said.
In light of this, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced plans on Saturday to temporarily suspend the right to asylum.
The fight against illegal migration will also be a topic at the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on Thursday.
In contrast, there was a significant decrease in the number of irregular illegal entries via the Western Balkans route, with just under 17,000, a decrease of 79%.
A similar trend was observed on the Central Mediterranean route, from Libya and Tunisia via Sicily and Malta, with over 47,700 attempts, a decrease of 64%.
On the West African route across the Atlantic Ocean – from Morocco, Senegal and Western Sahara to the Canary Islands – the number of entry attempts has doubled to more than 30,600 compared to the same period last year, Frontex said.
