http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10864359/Surge-in-illegal-migration-after-Libya-threat-to-flood-EU.html
Surge in illegal migration after Libya threat to 'flood' EUThe number of
illegal migrants arriving in Europe is higher than during the Arab Spring,
the EU border agency reports, following a threat by a Libyan minister to
unleash a 'flood'
By Keith Perry
10:07AM BST 30 May 2014
The number of illegal migrants reaching Europe has risen eight-fold in the
last year and is higher than during the Arab Spring, new figures from the
European Union's border agency show.
The majority of the migrants are crossing from Libya and comes after the
country's interim interior minister warned last month that his government
would help migrants leave for Europe if the EU didn't give his country
financial aid to cope with the influx.
>From January to April this year, 42,000 migrants were recorded by Frontex,
the European Union's border agency, with 25,650 of these crossing from
Libya.
Large numbers of Syrian and Eritrean refugees are waiting in Libya to be
illegally smuggled to the European Unions, the deputy head of the
Warsaw-based border agency warned on Wednesday.
At least a third of the latest arrivals are Syrians, fleeing that country's
civil war. But other significant numbers are coming from Afghanistan and
Eritrea.
It comes after the Libyan interior minister, Salah Mazek, said: "I'm
warning the world and Europe in particular - if they do not assume their
responsibilities, Libya could facilitate the transit of this flood."
Gil Arias Fernandez, Frontex's Deputy Executive Director told the BBC: "If
the current trends continue, and with the summer months approaching, there
is a strong likelihood the numbers will increase further,"
The influx is set to grow further as summer weather makes the sea crossing
easier, he added.
On Wednesday, the Italian government said the number of migrants arriving
had increased significantly to more than 39,000.
Frontex said the figures fo the first four months of this year are more
than eight times the number of arrivals in the same period last year.
The total for 2014 so far is more than the equivalent period in 2011, the
year of the Arab Spring, which eventually saw the arrival of 140,000
illegal migrants.
In Calais, where the French authorities have destroyed two squatter camps,
the BBC reported that it found migrants from a countries spanning West
Africa to Bangladesh, with large groups from Iran and Pakistan's tribal
regions.
Experts say the latest numbers are not surprising, after relatively low
levels of migration in the early months of 2013.
"The main route through Libya was closed for so long that people in
sub-Saharan countries have been waiting for a couple of years," said Franck
Duvell, associate professor at the Centre on Migration, Policy, and Society
at the University of Oxford.
"So the numbers have been building up and people were waiting for the very
first opportunity to move," he told the BBC.
"I'm not sure this implies that we are going to see ever-more people
arriving in the EU over the next couple of months. We've got to wait and
see."
Much of the influx has been attributed to the crisis in Libya, where the
BBC said it had recently seen evidence that large numbers of migrants are
still waiting to cross. Some estimates put the figure as high as 300,000.
Italy said that that since last October, when it launched its "Mare
Nostrum" [Our Sea] rescue operation, the cost of patrolling its patch of
the Mediterranean has risen to £24,200 (300,000 euro) a day.
Ewa Moncure, a Frontex spokeswoman said: "We know from the numbers of
migrants that are arriving in Italy that the people smuggling networks are
doing very well in Libya. Libya has become the main transit country for
migrants from west Africa, the Horn of Africa, and Syria. Those boats that
leave Syria should never be allowed to sail as they are unseaworthy and
always overcrowded, causing the tragedies we have seen.
"We know that people from Syria are heading to EU countries that offer them
asylum and a right to stay. Most European countries offer asylum to Syrian
and the German authorities are reporting high numbers of Syrians arriving."
Received on Fri May 30 2014 - 10:55:08 EDT