The number of migrant crossings through the central Mediterranean to the European Union more than doubled in 2023 compared with the same period last year, the EU border agency Frontex says.
In the first five months of this year, EU countries reported more than 50,300 irregular entries through that route, “the highest number recorded since 2017,” the agency said in a statement.
The Central Mediterranean remained the main migratory route into the EU, accounting for nearly half of all the entries in 2023.
The arrivals on this route drove the raise of 12% of all entries to the EU, as arrivals on all the other migratory routes saw declines ranging from 6% on the Western Mediterranean up to 47% on the Western African route.
