‘Dramatic’ drop in migrant arrivals on the Greek islands

The number of migrants arriving on the Greek islands in April plunged by 90% compared to the previous month, reaching fewer than 2 700. The drop is a result of several factors, including The EU-Turkey agreement and stricter border policies applied by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia at its border with Greece.

“The drop in the number of arrivals on the Greek islands was dramatic. The total for all of April is well below the number of people we often saw reaching just the island of Lesbos on a daily basis during last year’s peak months,” said Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri.

Syrians again accounted for the largest share of the migrants coming to the Greek islands, trailed by nationals from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Central Mediterranean

Due to the significant drop in arrivals on the Aegean islands in April, the number of migrants reaching Italy exceeded the totals for Greece for the first time since June 2015. The reversal occurred despite the fact that 8 370 migrants detected on the Central Mediterranean route represented a 13% fall from March and a nearly 50% drop compared to the same month of 2015.

Nationals of Eritrea, Egypt and Nigeria accounted for the largest share of migrants on this route, with no new signs of a significant shift of migrants from the Eastern Mediterranean route.

Western Balkans

The significantly reduced number of migrants allowed to enter the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia from Greece continued to affect the rest of the Western Balkan route. The number of migrants at EU’s external borders in the region fell by a quarter in April compared to March to 3 830. It was also slightly more than half the figure recorded in April 2015.