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According to the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior's data, from January 1, 2017 to the end of October, Bulgarian police detained 656 migrants who tried to enter the country illegally. Most of them were Syrians - 34%, Iraqis - 21% and Afghans 19.7%. Another 1,616 illegal migrants were apprehended during police operations in the territory of Bulgaria. 32.5% of them were from Afghanistan, followed by Syrians - 27.9% and Iraqis - 14.5%.
During the same period, 2,283 migrants were captured while attempting to illegally leave Bulgaria on their way to Western Europe. 406 of them (almost 18%) were without Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) registration. Among the people detained since the beginning of the year, the majority were citizens of Afghanistan - 53.8%, Pakistan - 18.1% and Iraq - 14.5%.
In 2017 some 3,334 people asked protection and 2,888 were refused. Bulgarian authorities deported 1,771 illegal migrants, 141 of whom were returned to other EU-member states under Regulation 604/2013 EU (the Dublin Regulation).
Despite the increased measures taken by the police, the illegal migrants not only continue to come but they also bring more illegal migrants and crime to Bulgaria and the EU.
Seven people were arrested on November 13 in an operation of the special police forces in Sofia, Bulgaria. They are suspected to be involved in illegal transportation and housing of foreigners. According to the prosecution, members of this organized crime group were taking migrants after they have crossed the border with Turkey and transferring them to different homes in the Sofia suburbs.
Police officers chased and then stopped a truck with 22 foreign nationals from Afghanistan and Syria, as well as a car with four people in it that was escorting the truck. The truck driver and the four people in the car were arrested.
The police raided three different homes in Sofia suburbs. Three foreign nationals - all of them illegal migrants - as well as drugs and illegal firearms were found. Two other men involved in the criminal activity of the group were also put in custody. One of them, a citizen of Pakistan staying illegally in Bulgaria, is reportedly one of the main actors in the group.
No obligatory quotas, no fines, says Bulgarian Vice-Premier
Bulgarian vice-premier and Ministry of Defence made a statement against obligatory migration quotas and possible fines on the countries which do not fulfil them.
"I fully share the opinion of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (in European Parliament) that the changes to the Dublin Regulation must not be in the direction that it is now going, but just the opposite - not to oblige European countries to accept illegal migrants by quotas and not to impose fines", said Bulgarian Vice-Premier and Ministry of Defence Krasimir Karakachanov after the meeting he had with Roberts Zile, Vice Chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists Group. Europe needs a political force with established traditions, values, religion and culture he added.
Mr. Karakachanov's statement is the first publicly expressed sign that Bulgaria is getting closer to the position of the Visegrad Four on the disputed EU migration policy.
Comment: In the history of bad ideas, the EU's "migrant policy" will go down as one of the biggest. The people are catching on. Some leaders are catching on. But things will still have to get worse, potentially a lot worse, before anything can or will be done about it. Europe dug itself into a hole. The sad thing is this: the whole thing was predictable.
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See also: The Truth Perspective: Weapons of Mass Migration: Interview with Michael Springmann on Europe's Migrant Crisis