By Olivier Sorgho
(Reuters) - The number of immigrants deported from European Union countries rose by 29% in the second quarter of 2023, mostly sent back from France and Germany, statistics agency Eurostat said on Friday, as the bloc tries to control exceptionally high arrivals.
Of the 105,865 non-EU citizens that were ordered to leave an EU country, 26,600 were deported to another country, an increase of 29% from the second quarter of last year.
Those figures include people returned to other EU countries, but a 76% majority were sent outside the bloc's borders, Eurostat said.
Georgians made up the biggest portion of deportations at 9%, followed by Albanians at 8%, Moldovans and Turks at 5% each and Indians at 4%, the data showed.
The EU is facing massive waves of legal and illegal arrivals, an issue that has prompted Germany to announce new border controls with neighbours Poland and Czech Republic, normally within Europe's free travel zone.
Germany deported the highest number of non-EU citizens in the quarter, with 3,805 individuals returned to another country, followed by France at 3,005 and Sweden at 2,690 people, Eurostat said.
On Wednesday, the EU sealed a deal on how to handle irregular immigration at times of exceptionally high arrivals, taking a step towards overhauling the bloc's asylum and migration rules.