The number of migrants arriving on European shores in 2016 fell by nearly two thirds to stand at 364,000 arrivals, down from 1 million in 2015, the former Frontex agency and new European coastguard and border guard agency announced on Friday 6 January.
This drop is mainly due to a considerable decrease in arrivals in Greece, thanks to the agreement between the EU and Turkey. However, this overall downward trend is not true of the situation in Italy and the central Mediterranean, where a record number of 181,000 arrivals was registered. The agency explains that this reflects increasing migration pressure from the African continent, particularly West Africa, which accounted for most of the 2016 increase.
According to preliminary estimates, the number of migrants detected on the Greek islands in the Aegean Sea and the continental part of the country fell by 79% to 182,500 last year. In addition to the role played by Turkey, this drop was also influenced by tighter border controls in the Western Balkans.
Since March, monthly numbers of arrivals on the Greek islands have fallen to a mere fraction of the previous year's figures, varying between 4400 and 1800. Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis represented most of the incoming migrants.
In 2016, the number of migrants in the Western Balkans decreased sharply to stand at 123,000, compared to 764,000 in 2015. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)