FLASH
Shkruar nga Gavin Mortimer 
"Coming from war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, some of them have military experience... We have been confronted with very structured and professional networks, which since the end of 2023 have encouraged immigrants to engage in acts of violence, which we have not seen before."
Irregular border crossings into the European Union fell by 31 percent in the first three months of this year, to 33,600. Figures published by Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, appear to show that the EU is managing to bring illegal migration under control.
But the data can be misleading. The biggest drop in irregular entries was the Western Balkans route, with 64 percent fewer in the same period in 2024. And this is mainly explained by the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the Schengen Area on January 1 of this year.
As a result, more police have been deployed at the border, and they have apparently been successful in controlling the borders. Frontex also says there has been a "significant" drop in the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean in March.
This is due to storms that hit Italy in the second half of last month. On March 13, Frontex stated that in the first two months of 2025, the Central Mediterranean route had experienced a 48 percent increase in flows compared to the same period last year, with nearly 7,000 migrants crossing the sea to come to Europe.
Most of them came from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Syria. The West African route to Spain fell by 18 percent in the first three months of this year, although it remains the busiest. In January and February, more than 7,200 migrants arrived in the Canary Islands, most from Mali, Senegal and Guinea. Hundreds more travelled in the first week of April, lured by Spain's pro-immigrant Socialist government.
This is not to dismiss the great and difficult work of police and border forces in Spain, France and elsewhere in Europe. Last month, a two-year investigation involving Spanish and French police led to the dismantling of what was described as a highly sophisticated international organisation, with centres in both countries.
19 traffickers were arrested after they were believed to have helped a large number of migrants from the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa reach Europe. This is also the challenge facing the authorities: gangs involved in smuggling people are becoming increasingly sophisticated and cunning.
InfoMigrants, a European migrant information service, said last month that gangs are increasingly using high-speed boats to evade authorities. Crossings into Europe cost between €5,000 and €8,000 per person. It is therefore likely that the true number of irregular entries into Europe this year is higher than Frontex's figures, as they only refer to detected entries.
How many migrants have landed undetected by the authorities? The determination of the gangs matches that of the migrants desperate to reach Europe, and more often, Britain. Since the start of this year, more than 8,000 migrants have managed to cross the Channel, despite police breaking up 10 trafficking rings in the first three months of 2025.
Authorities dismantled 22 similar networks in 2024. French police have noticed the emergence of a new phenomenon in recent months: “100 percent African” gangs, operating with the blessing of Albanian and Iraqi-Kurdish traffickers, who have dominated illegal immigration for years.
As I wrote in 2023, political unrest in sub-Saharan Africa, and particularly in Niger, is likely to have repercussions for the migrant crisis in Europe. The overthrow of President Mohamed Bazoum in a military coup that year deprived the EU of a partner, and consequently Niger has once again become a major source of migrant flows.
A report last week in the French daily Le Figaro showed how police and gendarmes on the French coast are having difficulty stopping migrants from leaving for the other side of the sea, in the UK.
A senior official said: "Coming from war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, some of them have military experience... We have been confronted with very structured and professional networks, which since late 2023 have encouraged migrants to engage in acts of violence, which we have not seen before."
Sometimes, the officer added, the violence is accompanied by shouts of “Allahu Akbar.” Frontex is doing its best, but it faces a well-organized network of traffickers, experienced and very determined in their aim. And with summer approaching, they will soon have the weather on their side./ Prepared in Albanian: Pamphlet
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