On December 6, the Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior announced that from the beginning of the year to the end of November 2023, the country's Border Police force prevented about 176,000 people from entering Bulgarian territory, an increase of 13% over the same period last year.
Bulgarian security forces reinforce the border fence with barbed wire to prevent illegal immigration from the Middle East. (Source: EPA-EFP) |
According to the ministry, illegal migrants automatically returned to the territories of neighboring countries after noticing the presence of patrols and checkpoints along the Bulgarian border.
The Bulgarian-Turkish border has been the busiest since the beginning of 2023, with migration pressure accounting for more than 99% of all migration pressure at the Bulgarian national border. Some 175,500 border crossing attempts were prevented in this area.
During the period, around 500 people were detected crossing the Bulgarian-Greek border, down 86% compared to the same period in 2022. Greek border authorities detained 616 migrants in the neighboring territory.
Since the beginning of 2023, the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior has also detained a total of 17,186 illegal migrants at entry, exit and internal points, mainly citizens of Syria, Afghanistan and Morocco.
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