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Migratory flows in July: Numbers fall in Italy, remain high in Spain

In July, there were 15 400 detections of illegal border crossings on the four main migratory routes into the EU as the number of migrants arriving in Italy fell by more than half from the previous month. Spain continued to see the heaviest migratory pressure since 2009.

The total number of detections in the first seven months of 2017 fell by two-thirds from the same period of last year to 127 100.

Central Mediterranean

In July, the number of migrants arriving in Italy through the Central Mediterranean route fell 57% compared to the previous month to 10 160, the lowest level for the month of July since 2014. After last month’s slow down, the total of arrivals for the first seven months of this year stood at 93 900, roughly in line with the same period of last year.

Several factors contributed to the significant drop in activity on the Central Mediterranean route in recent weeks, including worse sea conditions in the first half of July. Clashes near Sabratah, a key departure area in Libya, have also affected the smuggling operations there. In addition, increased presence of the Libyan Coast Guard also discouraged the people smugglers from sending out boats with migrants.

Nationals of Nigeria, Guinea, Eritrea, Sudan and Mali made up the largest number of the detected migrants on the Central Mediterranean route last month. In the first seven months of this year, Nigerians also represented the highest number of arrivals, accounting for one out of every six irregular migrants reaching Italy by sea. They were followed by nationals of Bangladesh, Guinea and the Ivory Coast.

Western Mediterranean

The number of detections of illegal border crossings in the Western Mediterranean in July reached an estimated 2 300, more than four times the figure from a year ago. This brought the total for the first seven months to around 11 000, already exceeding the number for all of 2016.

One of the main reasons for the increase in sea and land crossings on the Western Mediterranean route was increased instability in the countries of origin and transit. In addition, the dismantling of makeshift camps in Morocco and Algeria acted as “push factor” in displacing migrants to other areas.

The most migrants detected on this route this year have come from the Ivory Coast, Morocco, Gambia and Guinea.

Eastern Mediterranean

The number of migrants arriving in Greece by both sea and land routes in July stood at 2 300, down a quarter from the previous month. The drop reflected a significant decrease of detections at the land borders in the region, while the number of migrants arriving on the Greek islands in the Eastern Aegean increased.

In the first seven months of this year, roughly 15 750 migrants reached Greece, 90% fewer than in the same period of 2016.

Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans accounted for the majority of detections on the Eastern Mediterranean route in July

Western Balkans

In July, the Western Balkans route saw a relatively low number of detections of illegal border-crossings, continuing the gradual decrease from recent months. The reasons for this is the fact that fewer migrants have been leaving Turkey through its land borders towards the Western Balkans.

Note:

The data presented in this statement refer to the number of detections of illegal border-crossing at the external borders of the European Union. The same person may attempt to cross the border illegally several times in different locations at the external border.