BRUSSELS, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, or Frontex, said on Monday that the number of migrants who illegally entered the European Union (EU) in July was fewer than half of the number registered last month.
According to a statement of the agency, 15,400 migrants illegally entered the EU in July, making the total number of illegal border crossings by migrants in the first seven months fell by two-thirds from the same period of last year to 127,100.
Italy continued to face high migratory pressure on main migratory routes into the EU, the Central Mediterranean, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Western Mediterranean and the Western Balkans.
In July, the number of migrants arriving in Italy through the Central Mediterranean route fell 57 percent compared to the previous month to 10,160, the lowest level for the month of July since 2014.
Worse sea conditions and increased presence of the Libyan Coast Guard contributed to the significant drop in activity on the Central Mediterranean route in recent weeks, said the statement.
However, Spain was under the heaviest migratory pressure since 2009 as the migrants crossed the Western Mediterranean in July reached 2,300, more than four times the figure from a year ago.
Most migrants on this route have come from the Cote d'Ivoire, Morocco, Gambia and Guinea.
On the Eastern Balkans route, the number of migrants coming to the Greek islands dropped to 2,300 in July, down a quarter from the previous month.
In the first seven months of this year, roughly 15,750 migrants reached Greece, 90 percent fewer than in the same period of 2016.
Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans accounted for the majority of migrants on the Eastern Mediterranean route in July.
