Bulgarian Border Police Thwart Over 170,000 Illegal Entries in 2023

Bulgaria's border police have been working tirelessly to prevent illegal entry into the country, successfully thwarting more than 170,000 attempts by citizens of third countries since the start of this year. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the Bulgarian-Turkish border has been the epicenter of this migratory pressure, accounting for over 99% of the total incidents.

From January 1 to October 31, 2023, the authorities prevented more than 169,600 illegal entry attempts at the Bulgarian-Turkish border. This represents a significant uptick of almost 24% compared to the same period in the previous year, where 137,200 such attempts were recorded.

The Greek-Bulgarian border has also seen over 500 thwarted attempts by citizens of third countries to enter Bulgaria illegally.

During the first 10 months of the year, a total of 1,364 migrants were detained in border areas while attempting illegal entry into the country, with a majority of 1,304 apprehensions occurring at the Bulgarian-Turkish border. Among the nationalities of those detained at the Bulgarian-Turkish border, Syrians, Afghans, Moroccans, Iraqis, and Turks were most prevalent.

Meanwhile, at the exit points of the state border, the Bulgarian-Serbian border has been the busiest, where 88% of foreigners trying to cross illegally were apprehended. The most common nationalities among those detained at the exit points are Syrians, Afghans, Moroccans, Iraqis, Palestinians, and others.

Thanks to the efforts of the Directorate General for Border Police and other police structures, a total of 16,336 migrants have been detained and stopped on their way to Europe this year.

Additionally, in the first 10 months of this year, 319 pre-trial proceedings were instituted, with 311 defendants facing charges of embezzlement under Art. 280 and 281 of the Criminal Code. This represents a 12% increase compared to the previous year.

In recent months, the Border Police has forwarded 107 motivated proposals to the Directorate of Migration for the imposition of coercive administrative measures on foreigners detained for trafficking migrants on Bulgarian territory.

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