There are 672.9 thousand illegal migrants in the European Union. Most of them are citizens of Afghanistan, Morocco, Ukraine and Syria.
According to Eurostat, in total, 627.9 thousand illegal immigrants were found on the territory of the Union during the past year. Most illegal immigrants were among the citizens of Afghanistan – 56,200 people. The second place on this indicator was taken by the citizens of Morocco (41.5 thousand people), the third – by Ukraine (41.3 thousand), and the fourth place was taken by the citizens of Syria (40.2 thousand).
During 2019, 717,600 citizens of countries outside the Union were denied entry to the EU, and the number of foreigners ordered to leave the territory of the European Union reached 491,200.
Most often, foreigners were refused to cross the border by Spain (493,500 rejections), Poland (65,400) and France (56,600). In total, these three countries account for 86% of refusals.
Most of the citizens who were denied entry to the EU were Moroccans (489,900), Ukrainians (66,500) and Albanians (22,800).
At the same time, Ukrainians topped the list of foreigners who have left the EU – there are 27,200 such people in Eurostat. They are followed by Albanians (15,400), Moroccans (10,200) and Georgians (8,600).
As stated in the institution, over the past year, compared to 2019, illegal migration to the EU has grown in almost all major indicators.