site.btaPrime Minister Calls Emergency Meeting over Refugee Centre Unrest, Postpones Visit to Hungary

105 POLITICS-HARMANLI-REFUGEES-DETAINED-amp 7

Prime Minister Calls Emergency Meeting
over Refugee Centre Unrest,
Postpones Visit to Hungary


Sofia, November 25 (BTA) - Outgoing Prime Minister Boyko Borissov Friday evening said some 1,000 persons would be resettled in closed-type holding centres using shipping container-style homes and former barracks along the border, to be guarded as people who break public order.

He was talking in front of the refugee centre in the southern town of Harmanli which became the scene of unrest on Thursday.

The new sites should be ready within a week, and the Harmanli registration and reception centre will be reserved for families only.

Borissov said that from now on, migrants will be regarded as belonging to one of two groups: those who are waiting calmly for a decision under the EU Asylum Directives, and those who break the law and flout the Bulgarians' tolerance.

The main instigator of the riot in Harmanli has been identified, the Prime Minister said. The man served a year and a half in a German prison for drug pushing and has been in Bulgaria for four months. He will be expelled immediately.

Borissov called an emergency meeting Friday at the Council of Ministers after Thursday's unrest.

Participating in the meeting were Interior Minister Roumyana Buchvarova, her deputy Filip Gunev, Interior Ministry Deputy Chief Secretary Georgi Arabadjiev, Defence Chief Gen. Konstantin Popov and heads of the special services.

Borissov postponed his one-day visit to Hungary.

Some 400 migrants have been detained after Thursday's unrest at the migrant centre in Harmanli. Another 15 have been arrested for damaging property.

Twenty-four police officers have been injured and have undergone medical examination, the Interior Ministry said.

After 8 pm on Thursday night tensions among the residents escalated, Bulgarian National radio reported. In order to restore order, the police resorted to using water cannon, blank and rubber bullets and other auxiliary means.

Outgoing Prime Minister Borissov who visited the centre during the night called for strict observation of the law.

Borissov said that usually such tensions are followed by terrorist acts by activating sleeping terrorist cells.

The detainees will be placed in closed reception centres and five will be extradited for being a threat to national security, said Borissov.

Migrants revolted against a ban to leave the centre imposed on
Monday over an outbreak of skin diseases and the panic it caused
among Harmanli residents.

According to police information, about 2,000 migrants flooded the centre compound, shouted, set tires on fire and threw stones at the gendarmerie.

Speaking in the parliamentary chamber, Interior Minister Roumyana Buchvarova said that the authorities are working actively and that the situation in Harmanli is under control and soon the conflict will be resolved fully. She spoke in Parliament at a request of BSP-Left Bulgaria for information about the unrest in the refugee centre in Harmanli. Buchvarova said there is a task force in place and that food and medical care are provided for everyone on the centre's territory.

Buchvarova said that in order to control the situation the authorities have deployed 459 police officers, two water cannons and a police dog. The Interior Minister said that at least one of the participants in the riot may be affiliated with a radical cell. In Harmanli, State Refugee Agency chair Petya Purvanova said that the Agency won't build new refugee centres. With a combined capacity for 6,000 residents, there are 900 free places at centres across the country.

Speaking to journalists in Parliament, GERB floor leader and chair of the parliamentary home affairs and internal order committee Tsvetan Tsvetanov urged politicians to be moderate in their statements in order to avoid provoking unrest similar to that in Harmanli. In a declaration on behalf of the group Tsvetanov said that this is a national issue on which everyone should be united.

The Reformist Bloc called for a hearing of the Interior Ministry, the State Agency for National Security and the State Agency for Refugees at closed meetings of the parliamentary committees for home affairs and defence. Reformist Bloc co-floor leader Nayden Zelenogorski said that measures by the Interior Ministry were timely and adequate.

BSP leader Kornelia Ninova proposed to the incumbent a consensus on five urgent measures for tackling the refugee problems which include immediate extradition of illegal economic migrants, deployment of the army along the border, a repeal of a decree for the resettlement of refugees in Bulgaria; putting Bulgaria's national interest first and a call for a revision of the Dublin Treaty.

ABV called for a more responsible attitude to the anti-terror law.

In a statement in Parliament, Patriotic front co-floor leader Krassimir Karakachanov urged for the establishment of closed centres outside populated areas where individuals will be detained until their extradition.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said that the Commission is aware of the incidents at the Harmanli reception centre. He added that the Commission has put resources, money and support at the disposal of the Bulgarian authorities and that the responsibilities for managing these reception centres is mainly with national authorities.

He added that migrants who are not eligible for asylum status should be returned.

The prosecution authority will perform checks whether the Interior Ministry officers have exceeded their rights during the developments in Harmanli, Buchvarova said at the Kapitan Andreevo checkpoint on Friday.

In the meantime the press centre of the Defence Ministry said that 60 servicemen from Second Mechanized Brigade - Stara Zagora and the Military Police Service will provide assistance to the Interior Ministry structures in the law enforcement operations. Specialized equipment will be ensured. A team of the Military Medical Academy will also be committed.

***

Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov Friday met with Ahmad Sidiq Dlir, Charge d'Affaires at Afghanistan's Embassy, the Foreign Ministry said. The agenda included the incident in the Harmanli reception centre.

Boyko Borissov wrote on Facebook that migrants of Afghan origin were instigating riot. The Prime Minister threatened that the instigators of Afghan origin and other Afghans would be extradited on the first flight to Afghanistan in December.

Mitov stressed that the crisis situation in Harmanli was contained while fully respecting the fundamental rights of the persons seeking international protection in Bulgaria. The law enforcers used their powers to protect public order in line with the principle of proportionality, their sole aim being to defuse tension and prevent the conflict from escalating. The competent authorities will investigate the participants in the riot and the acts of hooliganism.

Bulgaria's chief diplomat urged against using the situation for political purposes and against allowing hate speech and xenophobia to take the upper hand, so as to prevent a new escalation of tension. Such attitudes will not advance the search for constructive solutions, he said.

Mitov noted that Bulgaria is doing its best to ensure normal conditions in the Harmanli centre, and insisted before the diplomat for active assistance in identifying the persons, subject to extradition to their homeland, acceleration of the issuing of travel documents for them, as well the timely issuing of visas to the Interior Ministry representatives participating in the FRONTEX missions responsible for the extradition of Afghani nationals.

Dlir showed understanding to the sensitivity of the issue and pledged assistance in relation to the questions, raised by the Bulgarian side. He voiced hope that the incident would not exert an adverse impact on the friendly relations between the two countries.
/VI,LI/PP,TK,DD/