The European Union could again see a record number of people try to reach its borders this year through illegal crossings, with more migrants driven by climate change than conflict, the European Union’s border guard agency, Frontex, said today. .

Frontex recorded around 330,000 irregular arrivals from all routes last year, the highest number since 2016, with the increased numbers leading to tougher anti-immigration rhetoric in EU countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Austria.

At least one million people — most fleeing the war in Syria — reached Europe’s shores in 2015, prompting the EU to step up external border controls and tighten asylum laws.

So far this year, Frontex said, the number of people trying to reach European shores from North Africa via routes headed for Italy has risen by 292% in the January-April period compared to the same period in 2022, reaching the 42,200.

Irregular crossings fell via the less popular western and eastern Mediterranean route, as well as through the Balkans and Poland, with a total of almost 80,700 people detected.

Hans Leitens, who took over as head of Frontex in March, said the number of people from sub-Saharan Africa was increasing, showing a shift in migration patterns towards those fleeing poverty and climate change rather than war.

“This year we may have another record high and if we look at the demographics [τις χώρες προέλευσης] of immigrants, the question is whether it will end in a year,” he told Reuters.

“The composition and the flow are more stable, not caused by an event,” he said.