Refugees from Ukraine arriving at the sports hall at the primary school in Lubycza Krolewska near Lublin, Poland, March 4, 2022

The number of migrants trying to enter the European Union without a visa or authorization in the first quarter of 2022 has spiked to 2016 highs, without accounting for Ukrainian refugees, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) said on Tuesday.

Frontex estimated that some 40,000 migrants have entered the bloc between January and March, which makes for a 57% year-on-year increase.

According to the EU border agency, the Western Balkans have been the most popular route for migrants into the 27-nation bloc, amounting to nearly half of all migrant crossings.

Crossings via the Balkans have more than doubled from last year, making for 18,300 crossings alone.

Reportedly, the majority of migrants have been from Afghanistan and Syria, two countries ravaged by a Western-waged war that lasted for two decades and more than a decade, respectively.

A sizeable number of migrants travel through the Western Balkans to enter Croatia and Greece from Turkey and pass on northward into more EU member states.

The last crisis saw well over 1 million refugees fleeing from Syria and Iraq into the EU, which led to a political crisis within the bloc and saw European states bickering over who should take the refugees in.

On the other hand, when it came to Ukraine, which generated nearly 5 million refugees, the EU was very open to the idea of hosting refugees. Poland has taken in more than 50% of them and Hungary has taken in nearly a million refugees, UNHRC figures showed.

Migrant crossings of the Channel from France to the United Kingdom have surged by 190% year on year, with the United Kingdom striking a deal with Rwanda to deport those caught entering the country thousands of miles away to the east African nation.

In a speech near Dover in southeastern England, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "From today... anyone entering the UK illegally as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1 may now be relocated to Rwanda."

The number of illegal crossings detected by Frontex in Eastern Europe amounted to 714%, which is the largest increase among all migratory routes.