TRENDS AND KEY FIGURES
Between 1 January 2017 and 30 November 2017, 171,300 refugees and migrants arrived by sea and land to Europe (Greece, Italy, Spain and Cyprus only, including arrivals to the Canary Islands and by land to Spain). While sea arrivals to Europe in November were 51% lower than last year, largely due to fewer people crossing from Libya, higher numbers crossed from Libya in November than in October while Spain recorded the highest number of land and sea arrivals this year.
As of 30 November, over 117,000 refugees and migrants arrived in Italy by sea in 2017 with just over 21,800 crossing in the past four months compared to over 95,200 in the first seven months of the year. As of the end of November, sea arrivals to Italy were 32% lower than during the first 11 months of 2016. Arrivals to Italy this year have included 15,540 unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) who comprised 13% of sea arrivals, similar to the same period last year when 14% of arrivals were UASC. While there was a 6% decrease in the number of sea arrivals in November compared to those of October, this was largely due to a significant decrease in crossings of Tunisians from Tunisia. In contrast, arrivals from Libya increased by approximately 84% in November compared to October. Eritreans were the largest group arriving in Italy in November, with more than 1,100 arrivals, over 700 of whom had arrived on just two boats. A group of Eritreans reported to UNHCR during disembarkation that they had been travelling for between six months and three years and experiencing various forms of violence and abuse during their journeys. As of the end of November, the primary nationalities that had arrived by sea in Italy in 2017 were Nigerians, Guineans, Ivorians, Bangladeshis, and Malians.
Over 25,900 refugees and migrants arrived to Spain by the end of November, by land and sea, an increase of 106% compared to the same period last year.
Although the number of sea arrivals (20,195) have tripled in 2017, they are still a manageable figure for a country like Spain and far from the numbers experienced in other countries in recent years.
While arrivals by sea, mainly to the Andalusian coast, represent almost 80% of the total, the number of arrivals via the land borders has also increased by 13% compared to the same period last year. The majority of arrivals by sea in November continued to be Moroccans, Algerians, Ivoiriens and Guineans while the largest group entering via the land borders was Syrians (300 in November alone).
As of 30 November 2017, over 27,300 refugees and migrants had reached Greek shores in 2017, compared to over 171,700 arriving in the same period last year (an 84% reduction). Arrivals so far this year mainly originate from the Syrian Arab Republic (42%) and Iraq (19%). In November, 49% of sea arrivals were from Syria, 18% from Iraq and 11% from Afghanistan cumulatively amounting to 78%.
More than 40% of each of these nationalities in November were children. Most arrivals in November have been to Lesvos (62%), followed by Chios (25%), Samos (9%), Kos (1%) and Rhodes (2%).
In addition to the sea arrivals, an estimated 5,100 people have arrived this year at the Evros Greek-Turkish land border, based on provisional data as of 30 November 2017 with some 700 crossing via this route in November, including a number of Syrian families.
These figures are similar to the 800 who arrived in October 2017 but nearly double when compared with recorded arrivals in November 2016 (370). Arrivals via the Turkey-Greece land border are not subject to the provisions of the EU-Turkey Statement.
According to Turkish authorities, the Turkish Coast Guard (TCG) intercepted or rescued 2,052 people during November, contributing to a total of 20,452 in 2017 of persons mostly headed to Greece. The largest group intercepted or rescued at sea in 2017 continues to be Syrians. Since the beginning of the year, some 27,258 persons were intercepted by Land Forces at the Greek and Bulgarian land borders, with over 25,162 (or 92%) intercepted at the Greek land border since the beginning of 2017. Apprehensions at Bulgaria-Turkey and Greece-Turkey borders in November were a total of 3,127.
In the Balkans, over 4,400 refugees and migrants were recorded as present in Serbia as of the end of November with around 91% accomodated in government shelters with 34% comprising of children and 15% women. Amongst those recorded in the country, 52% are from Afghanistan, 14% from Iraq and 2% from Syria. Nearly 550 people registered their intention to seek asylum in Serbia in November. Since the start of the year, 13 people have been granted asylum in the country during first instance procedures. Push-backs continue to be reported from several neighbouring countries.