Refugees and Migrants at the Balkans Route Regional Overview July-September 2023

Data and Trend Analysis (DATA) Refugees and Migrants at the Western Balkans Route Regional Overview July-September 2023 describes key trends in migrations in the region, detailing information about the number of people on the move, demography (age, sex, country of origin, etc.), behavioural patterns, and routes in use – with a focus on children, particularly unaccompanied children.

Key trends showcased in this report:

• The data available on refugee and migrant children and adults remains incomplete and inconsistent, as it depends on the capacities and registration/asylum policies of the countries in the region. Therefore, examining regional situations and trends—rather than only national ones—is necessary to gain insight into the migration route and the issues that children and families arriving in Europe face.
• Due to favorable weather conditions during the reporting period, the number of refugees and migrants traveling along the Balkan route increased compared to Q2 2023. Compared with numbers recorded in previous years during Q3, the figures were higher in countries of first entry into the EU—Greece and Bulgaria—as well as in key exit countries of the route—Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Decreases were recorded in North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo*, Romania, and, for the first time in a long period, Serbia.
• The nationalities most frequently recorded on the route are children and adults from Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq, also the most common nationalities recorded along the Eastern Mediterranean route.
• Trends and developments that could result in more children and adults traveling through the Balkans to seek protection in Europe, and which should therefore be monitored, include the deportations of Afghans by Pakistani and Iranian authorities, as well as the escalation of violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in Lebanon (which hosts around 1.5 million Syrian refugees).