Brussels, 05/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - The 7th biannual report on the functioning of the Schengen free-movement area has confirmed the strong migratory pressure currently being felt by Italy and Greece, which led the European Commission to propose an emergency mechanism for distributing asylum seekers among the member states. It also highlights the importance of the Balkans route.
The report, published at the end of May, confirms that the annual number of illegal border crossings detected rose considerably in 2014. Almost 284,000 irregular crossings were detected, double the number in the previous record year, 2011 (in 2013, the number was 107,000). Detections over the first five months of the reporting period (November 2014-March 2015) were three times higher than in the same period a year earlier, exceeding 111,000.
In 2014, Italy continued to report by far the highest number of migrants apprehended, followed by Greece and Hungary. As in 2013, the main nationalities of the persons detected were Eritrean and Syrian. The main routes used in 2014 were the Central Mediterranean (60% of all detections and four times more than in 2013), the Eastern Mediterranean (where the number of detections was twice as high for the same period in 2013, although remaining below the record years of 2010-2011) and the Western Balkans (double the number of detections compared with 2013).
However, over the first five months of the reporting period, the Western Balkans route was the primary route used (over 55,000 detections), followed by Central and Eastern Mediterranean routes (over 26,000 and 21,000 detections respectively). The three routes combined accounted for almost 93% of all detections. A significant increase of irregular migrants from Kosovo was recorded, reaching its peak in January-February 2015 and hoisting the Western Balkans route to the top position in terms of the number of irregular border crossings for November 2014-February 2015, the Commission adds.
Hungary had to receive support from Frontex. However, unlike the countries of the South, it receives few asylum requests that are judged valid, the recognition rate for Balkan-state nationals being close to zero in most member states. The number of irregular migrants from these countries, and particularly from Kosovo has drastically declined in 2015, the report states, the fall being attributed by the Commission to its fruitful dialogue with the Kosovan authorities. (Solenn Paulic)