In February, 3 400 irregular border crossings were detected on the four main migratory routes into the EU, down nearly three-quarters from the year-ago period.

In the first two months of this year, the total number of irregular border crossings almost halved to 12 000, in large part due to lower migratory pressure on the Central Mediterranean route.

Central Mediterranean

The number of migrants arriving in Italy via the Central Mediterranean route in February fell to below 800, less than one-tenth of the figure from the same month of 2017. The total number of migrants detected on this route in the January-February period fell by 61% to 5 200.

As the number of migrant boats leaving the Libyan shores plunged last month due to increased activities of the Libyan Coast Guard and poor weather conditions.

So far this year, Eritreans have been the largest group of migrants detected on this route, followed by nationals of Tunisia.