Sharp drop in migrants entering EU from Turkey

The number of illegal immigrants entering Europe from Turkey dropped during the first nine months of 2020, German daily Welt reported.

According to the publication, the European Union saw a 70 per cent drop in migrants illegally entering its territories from Turkey in the first nine months of 2020.

“The number of arrivals from Turkey in the EU in the year 2020 was 14,579,” according to a situation report from the EU Commission and the European External Action Service.

According to the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, also known as Frontex, the Eastern Mediterranean route between Turkey and Europe saw about 885,000 make the perilous journey to Europe in 2015.

READ: Greece plans to deport migrants who arrived after March 1

Greece and the EU accuse Turkey of deliberately goading migrants to cross the border as a way of pressuring Brussels into offering more money or supporting Ankara’s geopolitical aims in the Syrian conflict.

Turkey, which already hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees and faces another influx from an upsurge in fighting in north-west Syria, says it cannot take in any more asylum seekers and says that EU aid falls well short of what is needed for the refugees.