Caretaker Minister of interior: There is increased migration pressure

The flow of migrants from Afghanistan to Iran and Turkey is expected to increase. During a hearing in Parliament on July 30, caretaker Minister of Interior, Boyko Rashkov, said that instability in the Asian country could possibly lead to a new wave of migrants to Europe.
Compared to previous weeks, the migration pressure is currently significantly higher.

In May, there were 2,500 attempts for illegal crossing into Bulgaria and 113 trespassers were detained. In June, there were 4,504 attempts and 61 were detained. in July, the attempted illegal crossings dropped by 5%.

Since the start of 2021, 17,621 third-country citizens have tried to enter Bulgaria illegally, said Rashkov. During the same period, 590 illegal migrants were detained by the Bulgarian border authorities and 16,900 returned to neighbouring countries, he added.

"Do we have translators from Pashto?" asked Nikolay Radulov, MP from "There is Such a People".
"As far as these languages ​​are concerned, we will have to think in this direction. We will have to look for a way out of this situation," Boyko Rashkov said.

"Let's deal with the traffickers first, rather than sorting out the translators. How do you deal with the operational criminal contingent, which is the basis of the flows. And how many organized criminal groups or smugglers are detained?", asked Mladen Marinov, MP from GERB-UDF.

"The logical question remains whether Mr. Borissov asked his friend (during a visit to Turkey) to release a controlled flow of migrants in order to discredit the caretaker cabinet," said Atanas Zafirov, MP from “BSP for Bulgaria”.

"Frankly, I am not ready to answer this question. Yes, the meeting was made public. I also asked myself this question when I saw this pre-election visit (to Turkey)," said Boyko. Rashkov.

Answering a question by Ahmed Ahmedov of MRF regarding the level of migration pressure on the territory of neighbouring countries and what diplomatic actions have been taken, Rashkov said that large number of Afghans are expected in the coming months. “ We are prepared to respond. As for diplomatic action, I have met with the ambassador several times, we are confident that Turkey will take all measures to prevent it," said. Boyko Rashkov.

Regarding whether Borissov asked Erdogan to release migrants to Bulgaria, Desislava Atanasova of GERB said that the migration pressure from Greece to our country has increased 12 times, and from Turkey 10 times and asked is not possible that the President, when talking to his Greek counterpart, asked Greece to increase migration pressure.