EUROPEAN MIGRANT CRISIS: ANALYSIS OF MIGRATION ROUTES

Abstract

The scientific article examines the main ways of migration to Europe from 2014 to 2020. As a result of the conducted research, the following conclusions were made in the scientific article. The migration crisis of 2015 put the issue of migration on the political agenda and revealed the shortcomings of the European Union, Frontex and EU Member States in their border management mechanisms. In 2015, more than one and a half million illegal border crossings were detected at the EU’s external borders, an all-time record. At a crucial moment in the migration crisis, Turkey was one of the main points of entry, with around 800,000 illegal migrants. This circumstance indicates the current impossibility of the European Union to curb illegal immigration in the absence of a strategic plan agreed with the member states poses a risk to internal security. The lack of a mechanism for solving such situations 17 This paper is partially based on the Doctoral Thesis "The borders of the European Union: Objectives and Measures to face its security" that Mr. Isaac de Toro Mezquita is researching at UCAM. 18 The author has been a SNE in FRONTEX and in the Frontiers Working Group. in 2020 shows the weakness of the European Union, especially in the face of possible migration situations at its external borders, the situation with which still remains fragile and unstable. The need to advance legislative priorities to optimize the management of external borders to reduce or eliminate migratory routes has become objective, but the only measure adopted by the European Union that has managed to curb illegal entry was the EU-TURKEY Agreement, which can be considered a special measure, and that makes the EU dependent on the political will of the Turkish government. The European Union particularly focused on the Mediterranean migration routes, where various maritime operations were carried out. This protection of external borders has forced the search for or restoration of new migration routes, such as the West African route, which has seen a significant increase, but we can also see a slight increase in the Western Balkan route. This shows the inability of the European Union to provide equal protection at all external borders, and that the measures taken by the European Border Guard appear to be ineffective.