Nearly 27 500 migrants reached the Italian shores in October, the highest monthly number ever recorded in the Central Mediterranean and more than twice as many as in the previous month.
A key reason for the unprecedented number was improved weather that followed relatively poor weather conditions in September. Encouraged by this, people smugglers crammed even more migrants onto unseaworthy boats before the winter weather sets in, leading to a very high number of deaths.
There were 127 bodies recovered in the Central Mediterranean region in October and likely many more drowned.
“I visited Italy recently and we are working closely with the Italian authorities to increase Frontex’s support in the hotspots for registration, nationality screening and efficient return of migrants who do not have a right to remain in the EU,” said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri. “Frontex is also working with EUNAVFOR MED operation SOPHIA to train the Libyan coast guard and help build border control capacity of the national authorities in Libya.”
Nigerians and Eritreans accounted for the largest number of the rescued migrants last month.
So far this year, nearly 159 500 migrants arrived in Italy, 13% more than a year ago.
EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
Meanwhile, the number of migrants arriving on the Greek islands in the Eastern Aegean continued to amount to just a fraction of the figures from a year ago. Some 3 100 people were detected in October, in line with the previous month. This brought the figure for the first 10 months of this year to 170 000, although most of the arrivals took place between January and March.
The three main nationalities on this route in October were Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans.
WESTERN BALKANS
A similar drop was visible in the Western Balkans, where the number of detections of illegal border-crossings in October stood at 1 700, less than 1% of the figure from the same month a year ago. Nationals from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq continued to account for a large majority of the migrants on this route.
Note:
The data presented in this statement refer to the number of detections of illegal border-crossing at the external borders of the European Union. The same person may attempt to cross the border illegally several times in different locations at the external border.