A new migration crisis is brewing in Europe

, Belgrade. The Serbian capital attracts many tourists from far and wide, there to enjoy its diverse architecture and meat-heavy cuisine. One recent batch of arrivals has raised eyebrows, however. Few would have expected citizens of Burundi, the poorest country in the world, to plump for a Balkan holiday. And yet thousands have flown there since Serbia announced in 2018 that Burundians could visit without a visa—a rare privilege for Africans travelling to Europe. To nobody’s surprise the unexpected tourists were not there to admire Belgrade’s fine opera house. The European Union’s border force has reported a surge of Burundians arriving illegally in the bloc, bits of which border Serbia (as people-smugglers charging $3,000 a head to cross that border well know). Authorities in Belgrade, which had nixed visa requirements for Burundi as thanks for it withdrawing diplomatic recognition of neighbouring Kosovo, are in the process of closing the loophole after the threatened to make it harder for Serbians themselves to enter.Burundian fake tourists are not the only ones trying for a better life in Europe. Illegal entries into the have surged of late. Some 281,000 have been logged since the start of the year, up by 77% since 2021. The latest available figures show that in August alone some 84,500 asylum applications were lodged in the and its neighbours (this excludes Ukrainians, who need not apply for asylum to live in the for up to three years). That is the most in any month since a caused a migration crisis that roiled the continent. Back then, the picture of a drowned Syrian toddler whose body had drifted onto a beach was seared into the public mind and prompted a generous—if belated and uneven—response which included Germany taking in more than 1m refugees. So far this year 1,811 deaths have occurred in the Mediterranean, a grim tally. Amid war in Ukraine and an energy crisis across Europe, few seem to have much noticed.