Media: Frontex stated it’s impossible to stop migration
Illegal immigration to the EU from West Africa increased more than tenfold in January 2024 against last year’s figures, Reuters reports
Speaking at his Warsaw office ahead of a trip of EU President Charles Michel and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to Mauritania (which has recently become one of the main departure points to Europe), Frontex's Executive Director Hans Leijtens stated that an increase in the total number of arrivals to the EU is likely in 2024, adding that it is impossible to fully stop the migration process.
The source said that, when asked about the EU-wide parliamentary elections in June, in which migration is a top issue, the former Dutch border guard said that stopping illegal migrants completely was not realistic.
Last year, Frontex recorded 380,000 illegal border crossings, which was the highest figure since 2016. That marked another year of growth since the 2020 pandemic lows. Mr. Leijtens believes the trend will continue this year.
