A growing group of migrants seeking refuge in Europe are Tunisians. Among the Tunisians there are partly new groups, young people from the middle class who have given up hope of a future in their home country. In the last month, the economic crisis has deepened with violent demonstrations as a result. 

The EU has also closed its borders to citizens outside Europe. Therefore, it is currently impossible for Tunisians, for example, to obtain visas to France, and for many young people, the illegal route into Europe will therefore be the only possible one.

Locked in custody

The Italian islands of Lampedusa and Sicily, as well as the island republic of Malta, are finding it increasingly difficult to receive everyone who comes. The fear of corona also means that migrants are now locked up in refugee detention centers.

In total, close to 36,000 migrants have arrived in Europe via the Mediterranean this year. It is still only a fraction of the large influx in 2015 when over a million came to Europe. A large proportion of migrants arriving in Europe across the Mediterranean come from conflict countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Mali.

So far this year, Italy has received around 12,000 migrants, Spain and Greece 10,000 each and Malta close to 2,000, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.