BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Irregular immigration into the European Union rose a tenth in the first half of 2023 compared to a year ago, the bloc’s border agency said on Monday, with Mediterranean routes accounting for most of the arrivals.
Frontex reported 132,370 attempts to get into the EU outside of regular border crossings from the start of the year until the end of June, saying that was 10% more than the same period in 2022.
It said central Mediterranean crossings were up more than a third and accounted for half the overall number as arrivals from Tunisia to Italy grew. Traffic on all the other routes into the EU was down from the first half of 2022.
Earlier this month, the EU signed an agreement with Tunisia to stem irregular migration to the bloc, which is determined to keep a tight lid on sea arrivals ahead of pan-European elections due in a year.
The EU has long pushed to bring down irregular immigration from the Middle East, Africa and Asia despite criticism from rights groups that it is propping up rulers with poor democratic credentials to achieve that.
The EU’s rights watchdog said it would probe the Tunisia deal and is already looking into whether Frontex honours human rights obligations, including the duty to rescue lives at sea, while helping manage the external borders of the 27-nation bloc.
(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; editing by Christina Fincher)
