EU border agency says detections of migrants making illegal border crossings into Europe has risen significantly and is higher than even 2011
Frontex, the European Union's border agency, says 2014 has seen a significant rise in the numbers of migrants reaching Europe, BBC News reported today.
According to BBC News, the total for 2014 so far is higher than the equivalent period in 2011, the year which saw the 'Arab Spring' and a reported total of 140,000 migrants entering Europe illegally.
The Daily Telegraph reports that from January to April this year, 42,000 migrants were detected by Frontex, with 25,650 of these crossing from Libya.
Gil Arias Fernandez, Frontex's Deputy Executive Director told BBC News: "If the current trends continue, and with the summer months approaching, there is a strong likelihood the numbers will increase further."
BBC News reports that at least a third of the latest arrivals are Syrians. Significant numbers are also coming from Afghanistan and Eritrea.
IRIN News yesterday published an in-depth article looking at the surge in migrant boat crossings to Europe.
The vast majority of the boats depart from Libya.
According to IRIN News, since the beginning of 2014, over 38,000 irregular migrants have arrived in Italy, mostly on the island of Lampedusa, an eight-fold increase over the 4,290 who made the crossing during the same period in 2013.
Italian officials have suggested that it represents only the tip of the iceberg.
Earlier this month, Frontex published its Annual Risk Analysis 2014 report.
The report found that detections of illegal border crossing at the EU external borders increased sharply in 2013, rising to over 107,000 from 75,000 in 2012.
Frontext says migration towards the EU in 2013 was characterised by three main phenomena: a significant increase in the number of Syrians arriving, a steady flow of migrants departing from North Africa and heading across the Mediterranean to Italy, and a sharp increase in detections of irregular migrants on the Western Balkan route.
Most detections of illegal border-crossing were of Syrians, Eritreans, Afghans and Albanians, who together accounted for 52% of total detections (or 55 400). Syrians alone (25 500) represented almost a quarter of the total.