The European Union Border Security Agency (Frontex) announced that the number of illegal immigrants entering the European Union through the world’s most perilous migration route, namely the “Central Mediterranean” route between North Africa and Italy, has surged by 115%, reaching 89,000 immigrants in the first seven months of 2023.
On Friday, the agency pointed out that “this is the highest total for this route during such a period since 2016,” adding that “the Central Mediterranean remains the most active route to the European Union,” according to its report.
Frontex reported that “there were 23,388 irregular border crossings on this route from January to July of the previous year.”
In addition to being the busiest route, the Central Mediterranean route is also the deadliest for illegal migrants, as per Frontex. According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 2,000 individuals have either perished or gone missing in the Mediterranean Sea so far in 2023, with more than 1,800 of these on the Central Mediterranean route.
Nevertheless, Frontex’s report noted that “the migratory pressure on the Central Mediterranean route is likely to continue rising, as smugglers offer lower prices to migrants departing from Libya and Tunisia amidst fierce competition between criminal groups.”
