In the month of July, the number of migrants detected at EU’s borders more than tripled to 107 500 compared to the same month of last year, surpassing the 100 000 mark in a single month for the first time since Frontex began keeping records in 2008.
The figure was the third consecutive monthly record, jumping well past the previous high of more than 70,000 reached in June. Both the Eastern Mediterranean route and the Western Balkans were also well above the previous month’s highs.
This brings the number of detections in the January-July period to nearly 340 000, compared to 123 500 recorded in the same period of last year and 280 000 in all of 2014. This has created an unprecedented pressure on border control authorities in Greece, Italy and Hungary.
Syrians and Afghans accounted for a lion’s share of the record number of migrants entering the EU illegally. Most of them, fleeing instability in their home countries, initially entered Greece from Turkey.
“This is an emergency situation for Europe that requires all EU member states to step in to support the national authorities who are taking on a massive number of migrants at its borders,” said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri.
“Frontex has called on member states to provide additional equipment and people to support our operations in Greece and in Hungary and the European Commission has approved national programmes to provide significant financial assistance to the Member States to address these challenges,” he added.
In July, the most detections were reported in the Aegean Sea (nearly 50 000), mainly on the Greek islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Kos.
Italy detected more than 20 000 migrants last month, bringing the total number to 90 000 so far in 2015. Nine out of every ten migrants taking the perilous journey from Libya to Italy come from Africa, mainly Eritrea and Nigeria.
In the Western Balkans, the Hungarian authorities reported more than 34,800 detections.