The European Union recorded nearly 200,000 illegal crossings at its external borders last year -- the highest number since 2017, an agency reported Tuesday.

“The total number of illegal border-crossings in 2021 was just short of 200,000, the highest number since 2017,” the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) said in a statement.

The number of illegal crossings was 57% higher compared to 2020. FRONTEX said the lifting of coronavirus restrictions that encouraged global mobility is one of the causes for the rise.

Another “factor defining 2021 was undoubtedly the situation at the borders to Belarus, making it another year in which migration was used in a hybrid operation targeting the EU external border,” it said.

Syrian nationals lead illegal crossings, followed by Tunisians, Moroccans, Algerians and Afghans.

Because of the Belarus crisis, 10 times more illegal crossings were recorded at the bloc’s Eastern land borders compared to the previous year.

According to FRONTEX estimates, as many as 8,000 people tried to enter the EU via Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.

With more than 65,000 illegal crossings and an 83% increase compared to 2020, the Central Mediterranean route between North Africa and Italy was the most often used last year.

The Western Balkan route also saw a significant rise, 125%, in illegal crossings with more than 60,500 people trying to enter the bloc via Romania, Hungary or Croatia.

The number of illegal crossings remained stable on the Eastern Mediterranean route in comparison with last year with around 20,300 people trying to enter Greece, Bulgaria and Cyprus.

“While detections continue to drop in Greece, Cyprus recorded a sig­nificant increase in the migratory flow compared to previous years,” said FRONTEX, explaining that the number of detections doubled to around 10,000 in 2021 due to a higher number of Africans./aa