EU border agency: ‘Illegal border crossings’ on the rise

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union’s border and coast guard agency says that the number of people trying to enter Europe without authorization has risen significantly this year. Frontex says the numbers exceed migrant border crossing figures from 2019 before restrictions imposed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic severely limited travel. Frontex said Tuesday that 160,000 “illegal border crossings” were recorded in the first 10 months of this year. That’s 45% more than in the same period in 2019. The biggest rise was at the EU’s eastern borders in the Balkans region and by central Mediterranean Sea crossings. Crossings from Belarus hit a peak of more than 3,200 in July but had dropped to over 600 by October.