800K migrants enter EU illegally this year - Frontex

800K migrants enter EU illegally this year - Frontex

EU members must be prepared for the fact that "we still have a difficult situation ahead of us in the coming months," he added.

Frontex said last month that during the past nine months 710,000 migrants entered the EU - however, it was noted that "many people have been counted twice" according to AFP.

On October 13 the agency said that irregular border crossings may be attempted by the same person several times."

"This means that a large number of the people who were counted when they arrived in Greece were again counted when entering the EU for the second time through Hungary or Croatia," Frontex said.

According to the latest data from the UN refugee agency UNHCR, more than 744,000 people undertook the perilous journey across the Mediterranean this year, the majority to Greece, AFP said.

The report added that "on Wednesday, the first set of 30 migrants was due to leave Athens for Luxembourg under an EU plan to redistribute people throughout the 28-member bloc in order to ease pressure on countries like Greece and Italy."

The EU hopes that "transfer" around 160,000 people in this way.