CBS NEWS
The number of attempts by migrants to enter the European Union without authorization reached around 330,000 last year, the highest number since 2016, the EU’s border and coast guard agency said Friday. Almost half of the 2022 attempts were made over land through the Western Balkans region, EU agency Frontex said, according to its “preliminary calculations.” Regardless of entry route, Syrians, Afghans and Tunisians together accounted for roughly 47% of the attempted border crossings.
Men accounted for more than 80% of the attempts to get in, Frontex said. The agency calculates entry attempts rather than the number of people trying to get into Europe, because it’s often difficult to identify migrants, who routinely travel without passports, and some may try to enter multiple times. People arriving at Europe’s borders to apply for asylum have a reasonable chance of being allowed in, while those who come without a visa in search of jobs and better lives are mostly turned away.
Well over 1 million people, most of them Syrians fleeing conflict, entered the EU in 2015, overwhelming reception facilities and sparking one of the 27-nation bloc’s biggest political crises.
Member countries still argue over who should take responsibility for people arriving without authorization and whether their neighbors and partners should be obliged to help. Attempts to reform the bloc’s asylum system have made little progress.
