Italy Migrant Route Now Busier Than Path Through Greece: Chart
PALERMO, ITALY - 2016/04/13: Approximately 890 migrants have arrived at the port of Palermo, on the military Norwegian ship Siem Pilot. The vessel has been a major transporter of migrants fleeing the Middle East and Africa to Europe.
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The refugee route to Europe via Italy is becoming busier and, for the first time since April 2015, saw more arrivals than the path through Greece to the east. By the end of last month, 27,926 people had arrived in Italy from Africa in 2016 -- slightly up on the 26,228 figure at the same point last year. The flow of migrants through the Aegean Sea has waned since the European Union and Turkey struck a deal in March to send refugees back that arrive in Greece.