site.bta50 Asylum Seekers Have Been Relocated to Bulgaria so far under EU Emergency Mechanism

Brussels, September 7 (BTA) - Fifty asylum seekers have been effectively relocated to Bulgaria from Greece by September 1, 2017 under the EU temporary emergency relocation scheme, launched in 2015, compared to a formal pledge for 860, according to figures released by the European Commission on Wednesday.

Bulgaria has pledged to accept 471 irregular migrants from Italy, and 140 of them have said they were willing to be relocated, but none have been effectively relocated until the beginning of this week.

Thirteen Member States (including Bulgaria) have not resettled any Syrians from Turkey under the EU-Turkey Statement. As of September 4, 2017, a total of 8,834 Syrians were resettled from Turkey to the EU under thе 1:1 mechanism (for every Syrian national returned from the Greek islands another
is resettled to the EU directly from Turkey), compared to 25,000 pledges for 2017.