35% decrease in illegal migration in first two months of 2024

Illegal migration at Romania's borders decreased, in the first two months of this year, by 35%, which demonstrates a "firm" commitment to managing this phenomenon at the national level and in cooperation with European partners, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MAI) reported on Tuesday.

"During the mentioned period, 1,803 cases of illegal migration were registered at Romania's borders, highlighting a significant decrease compared to the same period of the previous year (approximately 35%). This result reflects the effectiveness of the preventive and control measures implemented at the national border, especially at the borders with Serbia, Ukraine and Hungary, areas with an increased incidence of illegal crossing attempts," according to a press release sent from MAI to AGERPRES.

The measures adopted by the Romanian authorities included intensive surveillance and patrol operations, close collaboration with European agencies, such as Frontex, and cross-border cooperation with neighboring states.

"This year, the structures of the Romanian Border Police detected 59 facilitators (people who help migrants to cross the border illegally for some money), 28 of them being Romanian citizens. More than 80% of the total number of facilitators were detected in the proximity of the border with Hungary," says the quoted source.

In the first two months of 2024, approximately 31,200 illegal crossings were registered at the EU's external borders, a level similar to the first two months of 2023. Most of the migrants were from Mali, Syria and Afghanistan.

According to MAI, the Central Mediterranean route recorded the largest decrease in detections of illegal migrants (-70%), while the West African and Eastern Mediterranean routes recorded the largest increases (+541%, respectively +117%).

The West African route has become the most active route in the last period, with over 12,000 arrivals, this representing the highest value recorded to date since 2011, when the Frontex Agency began to collect statistical data on illegal migration.

"It is also important to mention that in the first two months of the year the number of asylum applications is decreasing, compared to last year, in countries such as Austria (-35%), Germany (-17%), France (- 12%). The highest increase was recorded in Ireland, respectively +51%," MAI specified.