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Officers of Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, will soon be deployed at the EU’s external borders with North Macedonia, as part of an agreement approved by the European Council.
According to a press release by the Council, the new agreement will enable national law and order bodies altogether with Frontex officers to cooperate on combating illegal migration and tackling cross-border crime, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
“As of April 1, Frontex will be able to assist North Macedonia in its efforts to manage migratory flows, counter illegal immigration, and tackle cross-border crime,” a statement by Frontex reads.
The agreement is part of a new Frontex regulation adopted in 2019, which includes expanding the agency mandate in several third countries, such as North Macedonia, Albania (2019), Serbia and Montenegro, with Frontex reaching an agreement with these two Balkan countries in 2020. In addition, Frontex is working with Bosnia and Herzegovina to open negotiations for an agreement, which would also contribute to the fight against illegal activities at EU external borders.
Last year, the Council authorised negotiations for agreements with Senegal and Mauritania, while an agreement with Moldova became effective on November 1, 2022.
A report by Frontex reveals that the number of irregular border crossings in January reached 13,200, with almost half of those coming from the Central Mediterranean (49 per cent), while 43 per cent of all irregular entries were recorded in the Western Balkans. The majority of these arrivals were from Afghanistan, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Syria.
Similarly, the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) has revealed that nearly one million asylum applications were filed in 2022, representing the highest number of requests since 2016. The main countries of origin for applicants were Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey while the caseload of applications awaiting a decision hit a record high in the last seven years.
Moreover, unprecedented numbers of applications were filed by nationals of Venezuela and Colombia, 51,000 and 43,000, respectively, while nationals from Bangladesh filed a total of 34,000 applications. In 2022, the number of applications from Venezuelans and Colombians tripled.
In addition, application rates for temporary protection were almost half more than in 2021, and higher recognition rates were noticed among applicants from Syria, Belarus and Ukraine, as almost 150,000 decisions had positive refugee status. Moreover, 100,000 decisions granted subsidiary protection for applicants.
Decisions also increased by 21 per cent compared to the previous year, and the number of applications filed surpassed decisions by 333,000, recording the largest gap with applications recorded since 2015.
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