The European Union (EU) border agency Frontex has released new statistical data showing that the tough migrant policies of Italian populist Interior Minister Matteo Salvini have drastically reduced illegal migration.
The EU agency revealed that the Mediterranean migrant route numbers had dropped from 118,962 in 2017 to 23,276 in 2018, a decline of around 80 percent following the formation of the populist coalition government of Salvini’s Lega and the Five Star Movement Il Giornale reports.
According to the data, the number of illegals in 2018 is the lowest amount since 2012 and showed that while Italy had sen a massive decline due to Salvini’s policies, socialist-led Spain had seen a 157 percent rise in crossings by the sea in 2018.
