60 per cent rise in people without legal residence in EU

More than 1 million non-EU citizens were estimated to reside illegally in Europe in 2022. This is an increase of 59 per cent compared to 2021, the European statistics office Eurostat reported on Friday.

Hungary (222,520), Germany (198,310) and Italy (138,420) recorded the highest number of migrants without legal residence. Belgium registered 10,965 cases. Syrians (175,960) made up the largest group of people residing illegally in the EU, followed by citizens of Afghanistan (119,520) and Morocco (60,215).

The number of people intercepted at the European border last year (141,060) is similar to 2021. In particular, many people were stopped at the Polish (23,330) and Hungarian (15,780) borders.

Refused entry

Ukrainians (28,890) are most often refused entry to the EU. Eurostat reports that they are stopped because their temporary residence permit has expired, they do not have a valid visa or the purpose and conditions of their stay are not justified. Albanians (15,630) and Russians (10,860) are also regularly refused entry.

Another 422,400 non-EU nationals were asked to leave European territory last year, 23 per cent more than in 2021. France (135,650) expelled by far the most people, followed by Croatia (40,525) and Greece (33,500). Algerians, Moroccans and Pakistanis were the most likely to receive expulsion orders.

Approximately 97,000 non-EU nationals were forced to return from an EU member state to another country last year, of whom more than 77,000 went to a country outside the EU. The largest numbers of migrants left France (14,240), Germany (13,130) and Sweden (10,490). They were mainly Albanians, Georgians and Syrians. According to Eurostat, Belgium returned 1,940 people.

^{© BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK}