Migrants, landings are decreasing. The new pact makes Europe rejoice

In the first four months of the year there was a significant drop of 23% in irregular crossings of the European Union’s borders. In practice, we are talking about around 64 thousand fewer migrants who entered Europe irregularly. The Western Balkans and Central Mediterranean routes, according to the Frontex report, saw the sharpest declines, with a 69% and 62% drop in irregular arrivals respectively. These reductions are the result of stricter policies and greater cooperation between Member States and transit countries. The Central Mediterranean route, which had recorded the highest number of irregular landings in 2023, continued to show a decline, with just over 16,000 crossings, signaling the effectiveness of the control measures implemented. In April, landings on this route dropped to nearly 4,600, a 70% decrease compared to the same month last year.

Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Home Affairs, called the European Union’s new Migration Pact “a great achievement”. This agreement represents «the first time in which the EU has managed to develop a common and global approach to migration and asylum». Johansson underlined the importance of managing migration according to European values ​​and highlighted that when Member States work together, everyone benefits. The EU Commissioner is confident that all Member States will comply with the new regulation, and the Commission will take action with infringement procedures if necessary. The new pact on migration, we remember, was voted on 8 February by representatives of the 27 members and was adopted last Tuesday after a long debate process by the Council of the EU. Certainly, in the last year Italy has been the protagonist in putting the age-old migrant issue, which has been so ignored over the decades by the EU itself, back on Brussels’ agenda. And so now the tune seems to have changed, thanks also to the migration policies desired by the Meloni government and shared by the other member states in order to strengthen cooperation with the countries of transit and origin to better manage migratory flows. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni herself has created bilateral agreements with some North African countries precisely to better manage the migrant issue. As seems appropriate, we should also remember the so-called Mattei Plan to address the root causes of irregular immigration.

On the other side of the coin are the West African and Eastern Mediterranean routes as they have seen significant increases, highlighting the continued migratory pressure in these areas. The West African route saw a 375% increase in irregular landings in the Canary Islands, with more than 16,200 migrants in the first four months of 2024. This is the highest number ever recorded for this period since Frontex began collecting data in 2011. The Eastern Mediterranean route also saw a 105% increase, reflecting ongoing crises in several regions of migrant origin. The top three nationalities of migrants who crossed EU borders irregularly in 2024 were Syria, Mali and Afghanistan, underlining the political and socioeconomic crises that continue to push people to seek refuge in Europe. For FdI MP, Fabio Rampelli, the decline in migrants “is confirmation that the flows managed by human traffickers were, if not favored, certainly tolerated by centre-left governments who used solidarity as a tool to pursue other goals” . A left that does not give up listening to Elly Schlein who continues to unconditionally defend non-governmental organizations. For the secretary of the Democratic Party, European solidarity on the subject of migrants “means that instead of waging war on NGOs, a European search and rescue mission at sea would be needed, because they are doing the work that European states should have done instead.”