12,200 migrants illegally enter EU in August

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, or Frontex, said on Monday that around 12,200 migrants illegally entered the European Union (EU) in August.

According to a statement of the agency, the total number of illegal border crossings by migrants in the first eight months fell by two-thirds from the same period of last year to approximately 142,700.

In August, the number of migrants arriving in Italy through the Central Mediterranean route fell 60 percent compared to the previous month to 4,500. This was the lowest monthly total since January.

So far this year, nationals of Nigeria and Guinea made up the largest number of the detected migrants on the Central Mediterranean route, which accounts for two-thirds of illegal border crossings into the EU.

However, migratory pressure on the Western Mediterranean route remains high, as the migrants crossed this route in August reached an estimated 2,400, more than twice the figure from a year ago.

In the first eight months, the number of migrants crossing into Spain stood at an estimated 13,600, nearly three times the figure from the same period of 2016.

The number of migrants arriving in Greece in August stood at 4,200, nearly a quarter more than in the previous month. Most of them are Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans.