Posted on 28 Jan 2016
The 2015 Africa-Frontex Intelligence Community (AFIC) Joint Report analyses the irregular migratory movements affecting AFIC countries and EU Member States, cross-border criminality and provides an overview of the main regional security threats affecting the countries in the community.
Sub-Saharan Africans are the single largest group detected for illegal border-crossing on the Central Mediterranean route towards the EU. The top five nationalities among AFIC country nationals are Nigerians, Gambians, Senegalese, Malians and Ghanaians.
Factors such as a high rate of visa rejections by EU countries for West Africans, easy access to smuggling networks along the route (Niger, Libya) and poor return rates for those who are not eligible for international protection are all contributing to the growing popularity of irregular migratory movements from West Africa.
AFIC was set up in 2010 to provide a framework for regular knowledge and intelligence sharing in the field of border security between Frontex and African countries.