Western Balkans Quarterly Report July-September 2017

Key findings:

-Even though the number of illegal border-crossings by nonregional migrants recorded at the green borders in Q3 2017 showed an increase over Q2 2017, it was lower than that of the corresponding quarters in the previous five years.

-The number of non-regional migrants detected in an attempt to leave the region via BCPs also decreased, as the enhanced controls might have discouraged migrants from choosing this travel alternative; nonetheless, an increase was observed with regard to the number of migrants detected on entry to Albania from Greece, as the search for travel alternatives continues.

-Although the numbers remain modest, a slight increase in migration pressure was observed along the Albania – Montenegro– Bosnia and Herzegovina – Croatia sub-route; this indicates that migrants are looking for new travel alternatives to bypass the current primary route via Serbia.

-A slightly higher number of non-regional migrants detected for illegal stay within the region tends to indicate that the enhanced border controls are efficient in preventing easy transit across the Western Balkans.

-The irregular flow of citizens of Western Balkan countries remained largely contained at the southern common borders with Greece; a slight increase in the number of Kosovo citizens in the north of the region was recorded.