Across the Mediterranean as a whole, 116,610 irregular arrivals were detected up to September 25, 2022, i.e. 39% more than in the same period of 2021 and 47% more than in 2019 Figures far removed from those recorded in 2015, assures the European Commission in a report made public on Thursday, October 6, 2022. The same report cites Algeria and Morocco as being the most important points of departure for harraga towards Spain.
“Irregular arrivals by the Western Mediterranean route recorded a decrease of 16% compared to the year 2021. But compared to the year 2019, these increased by 7%”, according to the report of the Commission European. Algeria and Morocco, according to the same report, are “the most important points of departure from which irregular migrants try to reach the Spanish coast”.
“From January 1 to September 25, there were 22,921 irregular arrivals, a decrease of 16% compared to the same period in 2021 […]”, declare, in fact, the authors of the report which add that “the arrivals to the Canary Islands, numbering 12,347, are 5% lower than in 2021, but almost 13 times higher than in 2019”. This last detail shows that, in the last two years, the Canary Islands have become a destination of choice for harraga.
Harraga: the central Mediterranean route is the busiest
The European Commission, in addition to Algeria and Morocco, as the main countries of origin of those who resort to the western route, cites Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea.
According to the European Commission, the Central Mediterranean route is the busiest, with 70,088 arrivals, 55% more than in 2021 and 634% more than in 2019. “Almost everyone who used this alternative is arrivals in Italy, while Malta has experienced a substantial drop”, explains the said Commission. Irregular arrivals via the Eastern Mediterranean in 2022 (23,601) doubled compared to 2021, “mainly due to the increase in migratory pressure in Cyprus, which represents around 60% of arrivals by this route”.
Separately, the report says that in the first seven months of 2022, asylum applications reached “nearly 480,000”, after rising to “around 290,000” in the same period last year. . Afghans, Syrians and Venezuelans submitted the highest number of applications and Germany, France and Spain were the countries that received the most.
