Frontex | Eastern Mediterranean route

In 2015, some 885,000 migrants arrived in the EU via the Eastern Mediterranean route – 17 times the number in in 2014, which was itself a record year. The vast majority of them arrived on several Greek islands, most on Lesbos. The numbers increased gradually from January to March, but began to climb in April, peaking at 216 000 in October. The numbers eased slightly in November and December with the onset of winter, but were still well above the figures from the same months of 2014.

Throughout 2015 Frontex deployed an increased number of officers and vessels to the Greek islands to assist in patrolling the sea and registering the thousands of migrants arriving daily. In December, the agency launched Poseidon Rapid Intervention after the Greek authorities requested additional assistance at its borders.

Most of the migrants on this route in 2015 originated from Syria, followed by Afghanistan and Somalia. There are also increasing numbers of migrants coming from sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the migrants continued their journeys north, leaving Greece through its border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Frontex also deploys officers at Greece’s northern land border to assist in registering exiting migrants.

Trends prior to 2015

The Eastern Mediterranean has been under pressure from irregular migration for many years. Even in 2008-2009, more than 40 000 people entered using this route, accounting for some 40% of all migrants arriving in the European Union.

The sea route to the Aegean islands is far from being the only one used in the region. The air route remains popular with those who can afford it, with migrants flying directly to European cities from Istanbul. Others have entered Greece via the land border, or else exited Turkey directly into southern Bulgaria. There are other sea routes, though significantly less prominent, such as via Cyprus.

The summer of 2010 saw a sudden increase in the arrivals of irregular migrants, mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan, along a 12km stretch of the River Evros, which marks the land border between Greece and Turkey. The number of migrants detected here peaked in October 2010 with some 300 people crossing the border near Orestiada each day. Frontex launched the first Rapid Border Intervention Team (RABIT) in November 2010 at the request of the Greek authorities. The operation lasted until March 2011.

Despite a raft of other measures implemented by Greece, including erecting a 12km fence at Orestiada, numbers climbed again in 2011, with a total of 57 000 irregular border crossings along the Turkish frontier. The Greek response produced a ‘displacement effect’ to the Bulgarian land border. The choice of sea routes also became innovative. Some smugglers even took the passage from Turkey to Italy, a distance of some 1 500 km.

Many factors underpin the growing popularity of the Eastern Mediterranean route, both push and pull. People-smuggling has developed into an important industry in Turkey, with networks active not just in Istanbul but also in Izmir, Edirne and Ankara. The nationalities of people smugglers vary, frequently mirroring the nationality of their customers.

The relaxation of Turkey’s visa rules towards many African countries has created another pull factor for migrants from this continent, who arrive in Turkey by plane before attempting entry into the EU.

Disclaimer: Data presented refer to the number of detections of illegal border-crossing at the external borders of the European Union. Illegal border-crossings at the external borders may be attempted several times by the same person.

Illegal border crossings on the Eastern Mediterranean route in numbers.

For more information on this and other migratory routes, see Frontex Risk Analysis reports.