• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Number of Illegal Migrants Entering EU Sharply Dropped in 2017 [Report]

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
02/20/18
in Featured, Refugees
migrants in Spain

Migrants disembark from a coast guard boat after being rescued at sea off the coast of Spain, the one route last year that saw an increase in the number of illegal border crossings into the EU. Photo: AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The number of detected illegal border-crossings into the European Union dropped to the lowest level since the migrant crisis began four years ago, the E.U. border agency Frontex said Tuesday.

“The annual [2017] total of 204,700 marked a significant decrease compared to recent years, but not yet a return to the situation before 2014,” the Warsaw-based agency said, upon releasing a new report based on figures provided by E.U. member states.

It amounted to a 60 percent decline from the 511,000 illegal border-crossings in 2016, and far below the 1.8 million in 2015, according to the report.

The drop was especially observed on the eastern Mediterranean migratory route which connects Turkey to Greece, and the central Mediterranean route connecting Libya to Italy.

Today #Frontex publishes its Risk Analysis for 2018, covering the growing impact of cross-border crime at sea, the role of border guards in countering #terrorism, #trafficking in human beings & much more. See the full press release here: https://t.co/wmguxUbWMh pic.twitter.com/To9o0MxkH8

— Frontex (@Frontex) February 20, 2018

The E.U. last year reached controversial agreements with chaos-wracked Libya to stem the flow of migrants from that country, following a more comprehensive deal with Turkey in 2016, which sharply reduced the number of people crossing to Greece.

However, the western Mediterranean route, which involves making the sea crossing between North Africa and Spain, saw an increase in the number of illegal migrants.

“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,” Frontex said.

Given the change in migratory routes, the relative share of Africans — including Moroccans, Algerians and Tunisians — increased compared to 2016.

“African nationals accounted for almost two-thirds of irregular migrants arriving at the shores of the E.U.,” Frontex said.

While Frontex noted the significant decline in migrant arrivals to Greece, which had been a major entry point into the E.U., a Greek NGO on Tuesday claimed authorities were illegally expelling refugees to Turkey.

On the Turkish-Greek border, the Greek Council of Refugees (GCR) said in a statement at least 40 people were arrested and sent back to Turkey in 2017, including “families in vulnerable situations, pregnant women, minors and victims of torture.”

GCR called these actions “arbitrary” and against international law. Contacted by AFP, Greek police denied the allegations.

Only 16% of Refugees in Greece Get Sent to Turkey Under EU Deal

Share1Tweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

A migrant boat off the coast of Libya.
Refugees

UN Says 2023 Was Deadliest Year for Migrants in a Decade

by Staff Writer with AFP
March 7, 2024
Myanmar Rohingya refugees look on in a refugee camp in Teknaf, in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar, on November 26, 2016
Refugees

US Announces $26M in New Aid for Rohingya

by Staff Writer
March 8, 2023
Ukraine war
Opinion

The Ukrainian Refugee Crisis and the Hierarchies of Western Compassion

by Tazreena Sajjad
April 20, 2022
Ukraine refugees
Refugees

Nearly 3.7 Million People Flee Ukraine, UN Says

by Staff Writer
March 24, 2022
migrants
Refugees

Six Migrants Drown Off Tunisia, 30 Missing

by Staff Writer
January 27, 2022
Poland border wall
Refugees

Poland Begins Work on New EU-Belarus Border Wall

by Staff Writer
January 25, 2022
Next Post
Amal and George Clooney. Photo: AFP

Clooneys Donate $500,000 to Student Gun Reform March in US

Abdel Moneim Abul Fotouh

Egyptian Court Puts Government Critic on Terror List

Recommended

Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
An Iranian walking in front of a wall painting of the Iranian flag in Tehran

How Much Damage Has Israel Inflicted on Iran’s Nuclear Program?

June 16, 2025
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on November 19, 2017

Israel MPs to Vote on Opposition Bid to Dissolve Parliament

June 11, 2025
Two protesters wave Mexican flags while standing on a vandalized Waymo vehicle during a demonstration in Los Angeles, California, on June 8, 2025, following a series of aggressive federal immigration operations in the city.

Unrest in Los Angeles Over Immigration Raids as Troops Sent by Trump Fan Out

June 9, 2025
US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on August 4, 2020. Photo: Drew Angerer/AFP.

US Steel, Aluminum Tariff Hikes to Take Effect Wednesday: W. House

June 4, 2025
textile workers in Kenya

Workers’ Rights in ‘Free Fall’ Globally: Report

June 2, 2025

Opinion

Tens of thousands of protestors shut down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Saturday, April 5, 2025, protesting the Trump administration's abuse of the separation of federal powers as well as the deep cuts to governmental services overseen by presidential advisor Elon Musk.

Civil Society Is Holding the Line. Will Washington Notice?

June 17, 2025
A Black Lives Matter mural in New York City.

Fuhgeddaboudit! America’s Erasure of History

April 2, 2025
Bust of Deputy Rubens Paiva in the Chamber of Deputies

Democratic Brazilians Are Still Here

March 18, 2025
A woman from Guatemala

Dispatch From Central America

January 28, 2025
US President Donald Trump

Dear Trump Supporters: Is This the America You Wanted?

January 28, 2025
Putin talks to Trump in Hamburg

From Roosevelt to Trump: The Complicated Legacy of Personal Diplomacy

November 15, 2024
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post