Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
Is irregular migration to the EU really on the rise?
euronews (in English)
Follow
09/10/2024
It’s a common claim bandied about by far-right MEPs as the immigration debate grows ever more toxic. But do the figures match the rhetoric?
Category
🗞
News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
Is irregular migration to the EU really on the rise?
00:08
It's a common claim bandied about by far-right MEPs and other European politicians,
00:13
and it seems to be growing ever more toxic.
00:16
However, the figures appear to tell a different story.
00:22
Irregular crossings over the EU's southern borders,
00:25
which typically see the most migration of this kind,
00:28
are down by 35% from January to August,
00:31
according to the UN's International Organization for Migration.
00:35
Some 115,000 unauthorized migrants,
00:38
representing less than 0.03% of the EU's population,
00:42
have come to the EU this year via the Mediterranean or Atlantic,
00:46
down from 176,252 in the same period last year.
00:52
To put that in perspective, more than one million entered the EU in 2015,
00:56
at the height of the migrant crisis.
00:58
The EU's own data shows a similar trend.
01:01
Frontex, the bloc's border agency,
01:03
said that unauthorized crossings from the south have fallen by 39% overall this year,
01:08
compared to 2023.
01:10
Migrants most commonly use the route from North Africa
01:12
across the central Mediterranean to Italy,
01:15
yet about 64% fewer people use the route this year than in 2023.
01:19
Yet it has to be said that the figures for individual routes
01:22
are not the same across the board.
01:24
The second most used route is the eastern Mediterranean,
01:27
with migrants arriving in Greece.
01:29
Numbers here rose by 57% in the first eight months of the year,
01:33
with smuggling networks using speedboats
01:35
and other aggressive methods to counter the Coast Guard.
01:38
The Atlantic route from West Africa to Spain's Canary Islands
01:42
is the third most used route, and its use has more than doubled this year.
01:46
According to the UN, more than 25,000 migrants
01:49
from the likes of Mali and Senegal landed there at the end of August.
01:53
For more details, take a look at our website, euronews.com.
Recommended
2:30
|
Up next
More EU migrants coming - what’s different and why it matters?
Local TV
23/05/2025
3:05
Immigration: Is the UK facing a migrant crisis?
National World - LocalTV
13/02/2024
2:30
Is Labour doing enough to tackle immigration?
Local TV
10/03/2025
2:22
EU leaders strike hard line on migration, including visa retaliation, after summit in Brussels
euronews (in English)
10/02/2023
2:51
The immigration debate: What the West forgets about its colonial past
India Today
14/06/2025
8:00
Should illegal migrants be deported to return hubs outside the EU?
euronews (in English)
23/04/2025
2:09
What do Newarkers think about immigration?
Newark Advertiser
16/05/2024
10:00
Germany's U-turn on migration: Is it necessary or just politics?
euronews (in English)
02/02/2024
1:30
How has immigration enforcement in the EU evolved over the past year?
euronews (in English)
02/06/2025
2:16
EU Anti-Immigration Laws Similar To Trump's Wall?
Brut America
25/03/2025
1:17
Immigration in the U.S.
Brut America
25/03/2025
3:19
Is immigration to blame for the rise of the populist Vox Party in Andalusia?
euronews (in English)
18/12/2018
2:53
How could a Labour-led government change the UK's migration policies?
euronews (in English)
03/07/2024
10:00
Can Cyprus cope with the current flow of asylum seekers?
euronews (in English)
28/06/2024
2:00
Fact check: Is the ECHR really blocking the UK from deporting migrants?
euronews (in English)
17/10/2024
51:01
Is Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric widening the divide? Experts debate on Rajdeep Sardesai's show
India Today
11/06/2025
2:11
German-Italian riff thwarts EU deal on new rules to deal with migration crises
euronews (in English)
28/09/2023
2:15
How population growth and immigration could affect the election
ABC NEWS (Australia)
21/04/2025
1:30
Which country is deporting the most migrants out of the EU?
euronews (in English)
15/10/2024
1:30
What is the European public's attitude towards irregular migrants' rights?
euronews (in English)
23/04/2025
1:00
Are you concerned with UK immigration?
Local TV
27/01/2025
3:50
Migrant Migraine? Swedish anti-immigration party gains huge voter support
RT
23/09/2017
4:30
Immigrant comments on Trump's win
Diario As
09/11/2024
2:42
German election: Why are parties promising more deportations?
euronews (in English)
12/02/2025
1:41
Boys and Coach Rescued from Cave in Thailand
i24NEWS (English)
11/07/2018