Bulgaria Prepares for Refugee Wave from Syria

Bulgarian border police are on high alert over the expected refugee influx from Syria, file photo from BGNES

The Chief Secretary of the Bulgarian Interior Ministry, Chief Commissar, Svetlozar Lazarov, is inspecting Wednesday Bulgaria's preparedness to deal with the possible refugee wave from Syria.

The inspection comes on the heels of news the West is getting for a military intervention in Syria over the reported use of chemical weapons against civilians. The intervention now appears more and more imminent.

The Interior Ministry's press office informs that Lazarov, together with the Chief of Border Police, Chief Commissar, Zaharin Penov, and the Deputy Head of the Migration Directorate, Mariyana Markova, will be checking the situation with control and security measures on the Bulgarian-Turkish border, the state of the temporary refugee shelter in the town of Lyubimets, and of the local coordination center for border control.

According to data of the State Agency for Refugees, 743 Syrian citizens (including 225 children) have applied for asylum in Bulgaria in 2013, however many others enter the country illegally, in transit for Western Europe.

It was also announced that Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski will convene the Security Council at the Council of Ministries. Its members include the ministers of defense, of foreign affairs, of the interior, their deputies, the defense chief, and intelligence heads. The president can attend as well if he wishes to do so.

At the sitting, Interior Minister, Tsvetlin Yovchev, is going to present an overview of the readiness of the government to face the likely migrant influx. Other participants must offer programs, proposals, and strategies for the effective use of the military and economy resources of the country.