In the first eleven months of this year, 308,000 people illegally crossed the EU’s external borders. This is a high since 2016 and 70 percent more than in the same period of 2021. A third of these people – exactly 101,757 – have applied for asylum in Austria.
More than 91 percent of the asylum seekers were male. More than two-thirds were in the age group between 18 and 35 years. Most applications in Austria came from Afghans, more than 22,000. They are followed by Syrians and Indians (over 17,900 each) and Tunisians (nearly 12,500).
According to the Ministry of the Interior, some 37,000 people are currently in basic care. Two-thirds of the 100,000 applicants have therefore moved on. The displaced persons from Ukraine are not included in these figures.
Almost half (140,000 or 45 percent) of all migrants in the EU came via the Western Balkan route. This is according to figures from the EU border control agency Frontex. In November alone, 27,000 illegal border crossings were recorded, of which 14,000 were via the Western Balkan route. That was twice as many as in November 2021. Frontex attributes the continued migratory pressure on this route to the fact that migrants who are in the region repeatedly try to cross the border.
The problem was compounded by the fact that Serbia could travel visa-free with countries such as India and Tunisia. That has now changed. The main countries of origin on the Western Balkan route were Syrians, Afghans and Tunisians.
The second most active migratory route to the EU is the Central Mediterranean via Italy. Here, the number of detected irregular border crossings has increased by 49 percent since the beginning of the year to almost 94,000. Most of the migrants on this route came from Egypt, Tunisia, Bangladesh and Syria.
At the same time, the Eastern Mediterranean route, which runs through Greece, saw a 116 percent increase at the end of November, with nearly 40,000 migrants arriving. This route was dominated by people from Syria, Afghanistan and Nigeria.
The pressure in the English Channel is also unchanged. From January to November, 68,000 irregular migrants were counted here, which corresponds to a 40 percent increase compared to 2021.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
