Spain has most migrant sea arrivals now: IOM

Spain has replaced Italy as the main gateway into the European Union for migrants travelling across the Mediterranean Sea, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the EU border agency Frontex said yesterday. Between the start of the year and July 15, there were 18,016 migrant arrivals on Spanish shores, compared to 16,566 in Italy and 14,678 in Greece, the IOM said in a media briefing. In Spain, migrant landings nearly tripled compared to the same period in 2017; in Italy, they were down by more than 80%, while Greece saw arrivals rise by more than 50%. The UN agency said that Spanish migrant arrivals surged over the last month and a half with an average of 220 landings per day, compared to 54 per day in the first five months of 2018. Frontex, meanwhile, reported that almost 6,400 migrants reached Spain in June – an increase of 166% from the same period last year. Most of them came from Morocco, Guinea, and Mali. Frontex chief Fabrice Leggeri has warned for months that sea crossings to Spain could become the main way into Europe for migrants. In Italy, the fall in arrivals has coincided with the swearing in, on June 1, of a populist government that is leading a crusade against migrant landings. Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has banned charity-run ships from taking rescued migrants to Italian ports, and has suggested that all who are picked up at sea should be returned to Libya.