The number of people taking the world’s most dangerous route from the Central Mediterranean to Europe has increased significantly.
Europe’s Border and Coast Guard Agency said the number of people going to Europe illegally increased from 13 percent to 176,100 between January and July, the highest since 2016.
Frontex, European Union Agency, has said that the number of people using the Central Mediterranean route to go to Europe has increased to 115 percent.
More than 2,090 people have gone missing in the Mediterranean in 2023, according to data from the United Nations’ International Organization for Migration (IOM UN Migration).
Frontex said the route north from Libya or Tunisia to Greece or Italy could take several days. More than 89,000 people have successfully used this method in the first seven months of 2023.
At least 41 people are believed to have died when a boat capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa last week. Four survivors said the rusted ship, including three children, had left the Tunisian port six days ago.
Frontex said the pressure of migrants on the central Mediterranean route is likely to increase. Smugglers are also luring people leaving Libya and Tunisia with lower prices.
The agency said that the arrival of migrants to Europe through other routes has decreased compared to a year ago, with a decrease of 2% on the western Mediterranean route (from Morocco to Spain), 29% on the eastern Mediterranean route from Turkey to Greece.
The number of people trying to reach Europe in 2015-16 is very low, this number is increasing rapidly, and that is why anti-immigration sentiment and political pressure are increasing across the continent, including Britain in Europe.
The UK government has pledged to stop illegal boats through an immigration policy aimed at outlawing asylum claims of people coming through other illegal routes and transferring them to third countries such as Rwanda.
In 2022, more than 45,000 people arrived in the UK on small boats, an increase of 60% from the previous year. Since Brexit, the UK is no longer part of any restrictive EU framework, which sets responsibility for asylum seekers.
