A/HRC/29/36 country nationals to be undesirable and dramatically reduced regular migration opportunities. 14. The direct secondary effects of this approach can be seen in irregular migration trends. While regular migration to the European Union is decreasing, a clear trend since the 2013 report is an increase in irregular migration and asylum claims. The European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (FRONTEX) reported that, in the fourth quarter of 2014, irregular migration was at the highest level (100,000 irregular crossings) since 2007, when data started to be shared within the context of the FRONTEX Risk Analysis Network (FRAN). 15. Asylum claims have also significantly increased. Having peaked in 1992 (670,000) and again in 2001 (424,200), the number of asylum applications within the European Union fell to just below 200,000 in 2006. From that relative low point, there was a gradual increase in the number of applications until 2012, after which the rate of change quickened considerably as the number of asylum seekers rose to almost 450,000 in 2013. 16. Within the global context, the proportion of those displaced by humanitarian emergencies seeking refuge in Europe is still small. As reported by UNHCR, the world is currently experiencing the highest levels of displacement since the end of World War II and, at the beginning of 2015, 1.3 million refugees were registered in Lebanon and 1.9 million in Turkey. In comparison, the European Union assessed around 620,000 asylum applications in 2014. 2. Migration trends are diverging 17. Trends in regular migration to the European Union are not affecting all European Union member States evenly. Countries such as Germany, Finland and France have seen increasing flows in 2012, while Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have experienced a decrease in permanent inward migration.2 18. Trends in asylum claims too show divergence, with Eurostat figures for 2014 ranging from 126,705 in Germany to 55 in Liechtenstein. Also according to Eurostat, the proportion of applications being processed by Germany, Sweden and Italy went from 37per cent in 2010 to 60 per cent in 2014. 3. Sea-based migration and deaths at sea 19. While a number of precarious, sea-based routes to the European Union exist, by far the most commonly used since 2013 has been the central Mediterranean route. The dramatic increase in the use of that route has tragically resulted in large-scale loss of life. UNHCR estimates that 3,000 people died or went missing at sea in 2014. Events in the first four months of 2015 suggest that the use of this route and the associated avoidable deaths of migrants continue at an alarming pace. 20. While the majority of sea-based migration passes through the central Mediterranean Sea, the European Union is aware that, as a result of efforts to secure the border with Turkey, more refugees and migrants have begun taking the route across the Aegean Sea to the Greek islands. FRONTEX reported that during the period from July to September record numbers of migrants used those channels. In October 2014, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned that the situation was reaching crisis point. 2 Ibid. 5