FILE - A migrant who was aboard a precarious rubber vessel with others jumps to the h2o arsenic they are rescued by a squad of the Sea Watch-3, astir 35 miles distant from Libya, successful Libyan SAR zone, Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. Rights activists sent a dossier of grounds to the International Criminal Court successful The Hague, Netherlands, connected Tuesday Nov. 23, 2021, demanding an probe into abuses of migrants successful Libya that they reason "may magnitude to crimes against humanity." (AP Photo/Valeria Mongelli, File) (Valeria Mongelli, Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

BRUSSELS – The fig of radical trying to participate Europe without authorization has risen importantly this twelvemonth to surpass migrant borderline crossing figures from 2019, earlier restrictions imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic severely constricted travel, the European Union’s borderline and seashore defender said Tuesday.

Frontex said successful a connection that 160,000 “illegal borderline crossings” were recorded successful the archetypal 10 months of this year, up 70% compared to the aforesaid play successful 2020 and 45% much than successful 2019. The biggest emergence was astatine the EU’s eastbound borders, successful the Balkans portion and via cardinal Mediterranean Sea crossings.

Almost 8,000 radical — astir of them Iraqis, Afghans and Syrians — entered done the EU’s eastbound frontier; a 15-fold summation implicit 2020, the bureau said. Crossings from Belarus deed a highest of much than 3,200 successful July, but had dropped to implicit 600 by October.

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Frontex said that “while precocious level frictions betwixt the EU and the Belarusian authorities continue,” countries neighboring Belarus person “significantly strengthened their border-control measures nether exceptional states of emergency,” and that this has stopped radical moving crossed successful ample numbers.

The bureau said that 48,500 crossings were reported connected the “Western Balkans Route” — which galore migrants traverse connected ft successful hunt of amended lives oregon sanctuary successful the relatively-wealthy 27 EU subordinate countries. More than 9,000 entries were recorded successful October, an summation of 810% compared to 2019.

Arrivals via the cardinal Mediterranean besides rose, reaching 6,240 successful October, 186% much than successful 2019. Frontex said a “significant development” is that a increasing fig of migrants are crossing by oversea into Italy straight from Turkey. Most usually travel from Libya and different parts of bluish Africa.

More Egyptians are arriving done the cardinal Mediterranean from Libya, it said. Separately, migration to the land of Cyprus is besides connected the rise.

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The bureau said that 16,390 “illegal borderline crossings” were reported connected the occidental Mediterranean route, often into Spain from bluish Africa, but the numbers were 23% little than successful 2019.

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