Frontex recorded a major jump in entries to the EU along major migration routes in May compared to the previous month.
The EU border agency recorded around 4,300 unauthorized crossings last month, according to the Funke Media Group, tripling April’s figures.
It’s a sign that migration may be ramping up again after a historic dip in April. The 85 percent drop in recorded crossings was driven by the coronavirus, Frontex said, including delays in reporting. Overall, there were about 31,600 unauthorized entries into the EU during the first five months of this year, down about 6 percent compared to the same period in 2019, according to the report.
The top route is through Turkey and Greece, but traffic was down about 28 percent this year, with most of the migrants coming from Afghanistan. And only half as many people made the trip from Morocco to Spain compared to last year.
However, there has been a 50 percent increase in people using a route through the Western Balkans, according to the German news organization. The number of people arriving in Italy and Malta from Tunisia and Libya was up three-fold compared to the first five months of 2019.