(Reuters) – The number of non-European Union citizens ordered to leave Italy jumped over 2,000% in April-June from January-March, the bloc’s statistics office said on Monday, though the largest number of such orders was issued by France.
Italy ordered 6,020 people to leave its territory in the second quarter against 260 in the first three months of the year, the biggest increase among EU countries, Eurostat said.
That was the highest number recorded for Italy since the third quarter of 2020, when the country ordered 6,850 non-EU citizens to leave.
In terms of total numbers, France recorded the highest figure, with 33,450 non-EU citizens ordered to leave its territory in April-June, over a third of the 96,550 EU total.
Greece, with the next highest number, told 8,750 non-EU citizens to leave.
Algerians received the largest number of orders to leave, with about 8,170 people affected, closely followed by Moroccans, Albanians and Pakistanis.
France also ranked top in returning 3,590 non-EU citizens to another country following an order to leave, amounting to 16% of the bloc’s total returns.
Albanians topped the list of returnees, followed by Georgians and Russians.
Overall, the number of orders to leave the EU was up 15% year-on-year, while the number of people returned to another country increased by 11%.
(Reporting by Dina Kartit and Valentine Baldassari; Edited by Mark Potter)
