The European Border and Coast Guard (Frontex) has recorded 17,000 cases of illegal crossings of the EU’s eastern land borders in 2024.
Fortex reports that in 2020, the flow of irregular migrants across the EU’s eastern borders was only 677 cases. In 2021, it rose sharply to 8.1 thousand, after which it fell consistently for several years: in 2022 to 6.4 thousand and in 2023 to 5.6 thousand. However, 2024 brought a new record of 17 thousand cases.
Last year, Syrians made more than 100 thousand irregular border crossings, the highest among all nationalities.
Guineans and Afghans ranked second and third, respectively. According to Frontex data, women made one in ten irregular border crossings, while registered minors accounted for another ten per cent.
In the Canary Islands, the number of irregular migrants rose by 18 per cent to nearly 47,000, the highest number since Frontex began tracking irregular border crossings in 2009.
