Attachments
MIXED MIGRATION FLOWS TO EUROPE
In Quarter 4 (Q 4) of 2022, a total of 56,701 migrants and refugees were registered arriving through the three Mediterranean routes and the Western African Atlantic route to Europe, which is 19 per cent higher than the 47,405 arrivals registered in the same period in2 1, and 51 per cent higher than the 37,514 registered in Q 4 of 2020. Arrivals in Q 4 of 202 2 are 18 per cent lower compared to the previous reporting period (69,281 in Q 3 202).
About9 per cent of all registered individuals in Q 4 202 2 arrived in Europe via the Central Mediterranean route (CMR) to Italy and Malta (33,491 ). Around 14 per cent of arrivals were registered in Spain, through the Western Mediterranean (WMR) and Western African Atlantic routes (WAAR, 8,022). The remaining 27 per cent travelled through the Eastern Mediterranean route (EMR) to Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria ( 15,188 ).
Compared to Q 4 of last year, arrivals have increased by6 per cent along the CMR and increased by 22 per cent along the Eastern Mediterranean route (EMR), while they have decreased by 40 per cent along the Western Mediterranean (WMR) and Western African Atlantic routes (WAAR) combined.
According to available data from national authorities, Syrian Arab Republic, Egypt, Bangladesh, Côte d’Ivoire and Afghanistan are the most frequently reported countries of origin among all registered arrivals to Europe in 2022, followed by many other countries in Sub - Saharan Africa, North Africa and Asia.
Arrivals to Spain were 8,022 in Q4 2022, which is two fifths of the arrivals registered in Q4 of 2021 (13,403). Arrivals in the fourth quarter of 2022 are 12 per cent less than those in Q3 of 2022 (9,126). More than a half (56%) of the arrivals in Spain in this quarter was registered via sea through the WAAR to the Canary Islands; 40 per cent of arrivals were registered via sea through the WMR to mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands, and 4 per cent by land to the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla. The main nationalities reported at arrival in Q4 2022 in Spain were Morocco, Algeria, Guinea, Senegal, and Mali. 3 In the last quarter of 2022, at least 408 persons perished or disappeared at sea while on their way to Spain. Of these, 211 died in the Atlantic Ocean while trying to reach the Canary Islands. The number of dead and missing on their way to Spain in Q4 increased by 50 per cent compared to Q3 2022. At the same time, the number of dead and missing along the WMR and WAAR in 2022 (1,170) was 23 per cent lower than in 2021 (1,510).
The EMR route represented the second largest route by number of arrivals in the fourth quarter of 2022, with 15,188 migrants and refugees registered at arrival in Greece, Cyprus, and Bulgaria. This is 21 per cent more arrivals registered on this route in the same period of 2021 (12,486), and 3 per cent less than the arrivals in Q3 of 2022 (15,738). Syrian Arab Republic, Afghanistan, Morocco, Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo were the top nationalities reported at arrivals along the EMR in the last quarter of 2022.
On the same route, the Turkish Coast Guard (TCG) reported to have apprehended 12,431 persons in the fourth quarter of the year, while trying to cross the sea between Türkiye and Greece. Interceptions by the TCG were 32 per cent lower than those in Q3 2022 (17,025), but 43 per cent higher than interceptions in the same period in 2021 (8,825).
Additionally, at least 119 migrants perished along the EMR in the last quarter of 2022, which is 39 per cent less than the 195 in the third quarter of 2022. Overall, in 2022, at least 378 migrants died while travelling along the EMR (+241% more than in 2021).
Registrations of migrants apprehended by national authorities in the Western Balkans – in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Romania, and Kosovo* – were 22,577 in Q4 of 2022. They had decreased of 12 per cent compared to the previous quarter (25,840 in Q3 of 2022) and decreased by almost half compared to Q4 of 2021 (42,872). Afghanistan, Syrian Arab Republic, Burundi, Morocco, and Pakistan were the most frequently reported countries of origin of migrants travelling through the Western Balkans in the fourth quarter of 2022.