Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/779073
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 JANUARY 2017 8 EU Summit The central Mediterranean route T he Central Mediterranean route remained under intense migratory pressure in 2016, and the total number of migrants arriving in Italy rose to 181,000 - about 20% higher than 2015. Smuggling networks remain well established in Libya, where migrants gather before crossing the sea. In 2016 Eritreans, Nigerians and Somalis accounted for the biggest share of the migrants making the dangerous journey. People smugglers typically put migrants aboard old, unseaworthy fishing boats, or even small rubber dinghies, which are much overloaded and thus prone to capsizing. These vessels are generally equipped with poor engines, lack proper navigation systems and often have insuf- ficient fuel to reach Europe. For these rea- sons, the vast major- ity of border control operations in the Central Mediter- ranean turn into Search and Rescue (SAR) operations. Trends prior to 2016 The emergence of Libya as a col- lecting point for African migrants has long anteced- ents. Until 2010, Libya's prosperity offered good job opportunities for migrant workers from African coun- tries, who either used it as a final destination, or as a transit country where they could earn money to pay the smugglers for the last leg of their journey to the EU. The sea route has long been popular. In 2008, nearly 40,000 migrants were de- tected, mostly near the islands of Lampe- dusa and Malta, the majority of them from Tunisia, Nigeria, Somalia and Eritrea. The migration almost completely stopped in 2009 following a bilateral agreement between Italy and Libya. The situation changed dramatically in 2011 – the year of the Arab Spring. Between January and March alone, some 23 000 Tunisians – most of them economic migrants hoping to find jobs in France – arrived on the small Italian island of Lampedusa. Then, between March and August 2011, more than 40,000 sub-Saharan Africans arrived on Lampedusa and, to a smaller degree, on Sicily and Malta. Many had been forcibly expelled by the Gaddafi regime. A large number of them applied for asylum in Italy. With the collapse of the Gaddafi regime in August 2011, the flow of migrants again almost entirely stopped. Detections remained very low throughout 2012. By 2013, however, the smugglers had reorganised themselves – and there was no shortage of customers desperate to escape Libya as the state imploded and violence esca- lated. In what was a de facto failed state, smugglers have been operating with impunity in the absence of ef- fective law enforce- ment to counter their criminal activities. Western Mediterranean Route Number of illegal border crossings Jan – Nov 2016: 8,797 Top 3 nationalities of migrants: Guinea – 1,855 Ivory Coast – 1,527 Algeria – 1,473 Central Mediterranean Route Number of illegal border crossings Jan – Nov 2016: 181,126 Top 3 nationalities of migrants: Nigeria – 37,546 Eritrea – 20,719 Guinea – 13,424 Western Balkan Route Number of illegal border crossings Jan – Dec 2016: 122,779 Top 3 nationalities of migrants: Various – 102,332 Afghanistan – 7,271 Pakistan – 3,860 Eastern Borders Route Number of illegal border crossings Jan – Nov 2016: 1,278 Top 3 nationalities of migrants: Vietnam – 392 Afghanistan – 150 Ukraine – 137 Eastern Mediterranean Route Number of illegal border crossings Jan – Nov 2016: 182,534 Top 3 nationalities of migrants: Syria – 84,608 Afghanistan – 43,192 Iraq – 28,087 Apulia and Calabria Route Figures and data included with statistics on Central Mediterranean route