Ministry of Interior: Bulgaria has stopped over 193,000 illegal migrants on their way to Europe

From January 1 to the end of November, 2023, Bulgarian border police have prevented around 176,000 attempts by third-country nationals to illegally enter the territory of Bulgaria, which is a 13% increase compared to the same period in 2022. They have returned independently to the interior of neighbouring countries, after having established the presence of Bulgarian patrols and posts along the border line.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, it is possible that some of those who independently returned to the interior of neighbouring countries made more than one attempt to cross the territory of Bulgaria.

The Bulgarian-Turkish border remains the busiest since the beginning of the year, where migration pressure represents over 99% of the total migration pressure at the state border of the Republic of Bulgaria. About 175,500 attempts were prevented on the Bulgarian-Turkish border.

About 500 attempts by third-country nationals to cross the Bulgarian-Greek border were detected during the period January 1 - November 30 this year, which is 86% less compared to the same period of 2022, when about 3,700 attempts of violation were detected.

According to information submitted by the Bulgarian border patrols, the neighbouring border authorities have detained 616 migrants in the adjacent territory.

For the month of November, the data analysis reports a 35% decrease in registered attempts to illegally cross the state border, compared to the previous month, which is typical for this period of the year.

Since the beginning of 2023, the employees of the Ministry of Interior have detained 17,186 illegal migrants at the entrance, exit and in the country. Citizens of Syria, Afghanistan and Morocco form the main share of detainees by nationality.

Thanks to the efforts of the "Border Police" and other police structures, a total of more than 193,000 illegal migrants have been stopped on their way to Europe this year.