2016 Central Mediterranean detections highest ever reco

The number of migrant detections on the Central Mediterranean route rose by nearly 20 per cent over 2016 to 181,000, the highest number ever recorded, Frontex – the EU’s border control agency – said on Friday.

“This reflects a steadily increasing migratory pressure from the African continent, particularly West Africa, which accounted for most of the growth in 2016,” the agency reported.

According to preliminary estimates by Frontex, last year the number of migrants detected on Greece’s islands in the eastern Aegean and its mainland fell by 79 per cent to 182,500.

“This was in large part due to the EU/Turkey statement, which came into effect in late March and led to tighter border control by the Turkish authorities and readmission of migrants from the Greek islands to Turkey”, said the agency. “The reduction was also influenced by tighter border controls in the Western Balkans.”

Meanwhile, the total number of migrants reaching Europe by two main sea routes in 2016 fell by nearly two-thirds to 364 000 in comparison with 2015. Last year saw a significant fall in the number of arrivals on the Greek Islands, while Italy experienced a record number of migrants.

Since March, the monthly numbers of arrivals on the Greek islands have accounted for just a fraction of the previous year’s figures – ranging between 4,400 and 1,800. Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis accounted for the largest