Irregular migrants: a critical care or a public health emergency

Excerpt

Irregular migration has become a major problem for many European Union (EU) countries over the past few years. In 2014 alone, 276,113 migrants entered the EU via land, air or sea (most of them) along the southern and eastern European borders, frequently enduring perilous voyages. In 2015, 520,957 arrivals by the sea route had been recorded by the 2nd of October [1]. Overall, the number of asylum applications in the EU has increased by 75 % between 2014 and 2015; they mainly come from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iraq, all countries hit by regional instability and conflict. The flow of migrants in Europe is not constant (although lately this is changing) and at the moment not evenly distributed throughout the EU. Nevertheless, this is a dynamic situation and predictions for the countries most affected in the future cannot safely be made, as the migrants’ entry modes may evolve, as well as their choice of target entrance countries. Currently, huge migratory pressures are being exerted on several Southern European countries such as Greece and Italy, leading to surge capacity issues. For example, 137,000 irregular migrants reached Greece during July and August, an increase of 250 % [2]. According to the International Organization on Migration the majority of arrivals to Greece are from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq; in Italy, on the other hand, they most frequently come from Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Gambia and Sudan [3]. Two emergency schemes were recently adopted in order to relocate 160,000 irregular migrants from the EU member states most affected to other member states [2] (Fig. 1). The first relocation transfers are expected within 1 month of the decision [2]. Based on an EU-wide asylum recognition rate of ≥75 %, Syrians, Eritreans and Iraqis are expected to benefit the most from the current relocation scheme [2]. In addition, on 23 September 2015 a number of priority measures were laid out to be delivered within 6 months under the European agenda for migration, including significant budgetary support. An increase in the funds for humanitarian aid by €200 million in 2015 and €300 million in 2016 was agreed upon, as well as increased funding for relevant EU agencies such as Frontex, the European Asylum Support Office and Europol [2].

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