The EU’s Border Control agency Frontex has said that the substantial drop in illegal immigrants arriving in the EU observed this year could be mainly attributed to the current economic crisis.

It admitted, however, that stricter controls on sea crossings, including the ones in place on the central Mediterranean route have forced illegal immigrants to abandon their plans to cross to Malta or Italy from Libya and instead use land borders particularly the one between Turkey and Greece.

Following the introduction of joint patrols between Italy and Libya in mid-2009, the number of illegal immigrants landing on Malta’s shores has been reduced substantially. This year no major landings took place. However, Frontex warned that this may not necessarily be the result of more surveillance but a consequence of fewer jobs available in the EU due to the crisis.

Fontex figures show that migrant arrivals in the EU have dropped from 53,674 in the first half of 2009 to 40,977 in the first half of 2010, a drop of 23.6 per cent. During the second quarter of this year, the number of illegal immigrants detected (mainly from Afghanistan, Asia and North Africa) was down 15 per cent on the first quarter.

Over the same period, the number of illegal immigrants living in the EU fell by 23 per cent and the number of asylum requests fell by 21 per cent. A

According to Frontex, the main entry point for illegal immigrants is the border between Greece and Turkey. More than half of the illegal immigrants arrested are stopped at Orestiada, in the far north-eastern corner of Greece, in the Thrace region.