(AFP) Migrant crossings through the Mediterranean have reached unprecedented levels as increasingly organised smuggling gangs are producing makeshift boats much more easily, the head of the European Union’s border agency told AFP.
In the first four months of 2023, the numbers of crossings through the central Mediterranean soared almost 300 percent compared to the same period last year, with almost 42,200 entries detected.
“I have never seen this before,” Frontex chief Hans Leijtens said in an interview, adding that the crossings through the route accounted for just over half the nearly 80,700 irregular entries into the EU so far this year.
“Especially from Tunisia, right now we see, compared with last year, it’s a 1,100 percent growth,” Leijtens said.
