ABSTRACT
In 2018, around 150,000 irregular arrivals were detected across EU external borders, a 25% decrease compared to 2017. This was the lowest level in five years and over 90% below the peak year for the migratory crisis in 2015. EU action has contributed to almost 730,000 rescues at sea since 2015. Millions of asylum seekers, refugees and displaced people have benefited from programmes financed by the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa2 – with over 5,3 millions vulnerable people receiving basic support, almost a million being reached by communication campaigns, and over 60,000 helped with reintegration after return. The Trust Fund for Africa has also been key to the voluntary humanitarian return of over 37,000 vulnerable migrants from Libya to their countries of origin since the start of 2017. A total of 34,710 people in need of international protection have been relocated from Italy and Greece. Since 2015, more than 50,000 people in need of international protection have been resettled to the EU. Over EUR 140 millions was provided under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund to support measures on integration and legal migration between 2015 and 2017. (EC 2019: 1, box: ‘Key progress under the European Agenda on Migration’)
