By Omar Bah
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, released data on October 15 showing a 42% decrease in irregular border crossings into the European Union during the first nine months of 2024. However, the numbers from The Gambia remained notably high. Frontex highlighted that the Eastern Land Border and Western African routes, which include Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, and The Gambia, saw significant increases of 192% and 100%, respectively.
Frontex estimated that 166,000 irregular entries occurred during this period. While there were substantial declines on the Western Balkan and Central Mediterranean routes, with decreases of 79% and 64%, respectively, Frontex also noted that some routes continued to experience increases in irregular migrant arrivals. Notably, detections on the Western African route, including Morocco, remained exceptionally high from January to September, reaching over 30,600—double the figure from last year.
Frontex reported that Morocco, Algeria, Mali, and Senegal were the top nationalities crossing irregularly into Europe via the Western African and Western Mediterranean routes.
