The number people caught trying to enter the EU illegally has dropped to its lowest level in five years, according to the EU border agency Frontex. The agency said it registered some 150,000 illegal crossings last year, the smallest number since 2013. Much of the drop is due to fewer Mediterranean crossings to Italy, where the far-right government has effectively closed the country to asylum seekers, at times even closing its ports to Italy-registered ships thought to be carrying refugees. The number of illegal crossing in 2018 was 92% below that of 2015, a peak year for migration to Europe.