In the first nine months of this year, 228,240 irregular crossings were observed at the external borders of the European Union, according to initial calculations by Frontex on Thursday.
The European Border Protection Agency said this was the highest figure for the first three quarters since 2016.
Compared to the first nine months of 2021, the number of irregular border crossings increased by 70 percent. This increase occurred, among other things, on the busy Western Balkan route. There were more than 106,000 violations from January to October, an increase of 170 percent. That high number is due to repeated attempts by migrants already present in the region, Frontex said.
The agency records the number of violations, not the number of migrants. The same person can try several times to cross an external border of the EU.
Pressure has also mounted on the central Mediterranean route to Italy. More than 65,000 border crossings were reported there, an increase of 42 percent. The number of exceedances also increased on the Eastern Mediterranean route to Greece - going up by 118 percent to attain 28,873 - and the Channel (up by 68 percent to 52,720).
More border crossings have already been counted across the Channel than in all of 2021.
The number of border crossings decreased again on the western Mediterranean route to Spain and the eastern land border. People fleeing the war in Ukraine are not included in the figures for irregular crossings. According to Frontex, more than 11 million Ukrainians have crossed the border since the start of the Russian invasion. A significant number have since returned.
