Refugee influx will continue this year too, warns EU's Frontex

Brussels: ‘Frontex’, a prominent agency which is the border agency of the European Union (EU) warned that the influx of refugees continuing for the last few years, will continue in this year too. ‘Frontex’ Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri has cautioned that there are flocks of refugees coming to South European countries from the Mediterranean Sea and Spain is at the highest risk. This warning indicates that the efforts started by the EU to stop the influx of refugees, have failed.

It is said that there are about 2.5 million refugees that have entered Europe in the last three years. The appeal by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the policy made by the EU after that, are responsible for this refugee influx. Merkel had declared an open-door policy for the refugees for Europe in 2015. Subsequently, the EU started pressurising its member countries to accept refugees.

But, only in two years the EU policy about the refugees seems to be changing. The countries who welcomed the refugees initially, have started stressing on the expulsion of illegal refugees and creating habitation facilities for them in countries outside Europe. Many African countries as well as Turkey were even offered financial sops. But, in spite of these efforts the European countries do not seem to have succeeded in stopping the influx of refugees.

As per the information provided by ‘Frontex’ about 200 thousand refugees tried to enter Europe illegally. More than 150 thousand out of these were from the African countries, said ‘Frontex’ chief Fabrice Leggeri.

Leggeri also warned, ‘There is a large proportion of these illegal refugees come through the southern border of Europe and this illegal influx will continue in this year too.’

The scale of the refugee influx has increased through southern Europe from Spain and in the year 2017, about 21 thousand illegal refugees entered Spain, informed the Frontex chief. There is a majority of African refugees in these and these refugees are coming from Nigeria, Morocco, Algieria and Guinea.