Irregular migration up 86 per cent

Between January and April this year over 9,000 people were detected on the Eastern Mediterranean migratory route with half of these concerning Cyprus, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex said on Monday.

The number represented a hike of 86 per cent over the same period in 2021.

In the first four months of 2022 there were about 57,800 irregular entries to the EU, according to preliminary Frontex calculations, with the busiest routes being the Western Balkan, Eastern Mediterranean and Central Mediterranean.

“The number of detections on the Eastern Mediterranean route remained high with 9,109 arrivals (+86 per cent). This was particularly due to the steady number of arrivals to Cyprus, which accounted for more than half of all detections,” Frontex said.

Most of the migrants came from Syria, Nigeria and Congo.