Bangladeshis among top nations attempting illegal entry into Europe

Bangladeshis come second in taking the most active illegal migration route to Europe, and are ranked first in using the "Eastern Land Border," one of the two unauthorised overland routes, to reach the continent.

Frontex, the European Union border guard agency, revealed the data on illegal migration on its website on Friday, covering the January-March period.

According to the figures, illegal border crossing incidents, both successful and intercepted attempts, were down 40% year-on-year in the first three months of 2026.

Frontex has categorized the routes used by illegal migrants into seven border areas, where two are overland routes and the rest are sea routes.

Bangladeshi illegal migrants came first in using the "Central Mediterranean" route, which involves entering Europe though Italian islands. The group is followed by people from Somalia and Pakistan in the second and third positions for the January-March period.

Furthermore, Bangladeshi people came second in using the "Eastern Mediterranean" route, which involves entering Europe though Greece, after Afghanistan. In this route, Bangladeshis are followed by Sudanese people in the third position.

Bangladeshis also came second in using the “Eastern Land Border” route, which involves entering Europe though Belarus and Lithuania, being preceded only by Ukraine.