Frontex data: In the first nine months of this year, the number of illegal migrations fell by 42 percent

In the first nine months of this year, 166,000 people tried to enter the EU illegally, which is 42 percent less than in the same period last year, the EU border protection agency Frontex announced on Tuesday in Warsaw.

But the number of unauthorized entry attempts via the EU’s eastern land border, especially the route through Belarus towards Poland and Lithuania, has increased significantly. About 13,200 such attempts were recorded, which is an increase of 192 percent, Frontex announced.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk therefore announced plans on Saturday to temporarily suspend the right to asylum.

The fight against illegal migration should also be a topic at the summit of EU leaders on Thursday in Brussels.

When it comes to the Western Balkans route, there has been a significant drop in the number of irregular unauthorized entries, with just under 17,000, a decrease of 79 percent.

A similar trend was observed on the Central Mediterranean route, from Libya and Tunisia via Sicily and Malta, with more than 47,700 attempts, a drop of 64 percent.

On the West African route across the Atlantic, from Morocco, Senegal and Western Sahara to the Canary Islands, the number of entry attempts has doubled compared to the same period last year and amounts to over 30,600, according to Frontex data.