site.btaVice-Presidential Candidate Iliana Iotova Opposed to Building More Refugee Camps in Bulgaria

Vice-Presidential Candidate Iliana Iotova Opposed to Building More Refugee Camps in Bulgaria

Harmanli, Southern Bulgaria, September 20 (BTA) - Iliana Iotova MEP has insisted that Bulgaria should resist the pressure to build more refugee camps. "I have noticed the pressure both as a European parliamentarian and as someone who follows high-level meetings," she said, speaking to journalists before talking with members of the public in Harmanli on September 19. Iotova is Vice-Chair of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee in the European Parliament and a candidate for vice-president of Bulgaria supported by the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

She argued that the Bulgarian borders cannot be protected efficiently at present. "Despite assurances in recent months, as far as I know, about 100 km of the fence along the border with Turkey is yet to be built. Besides that, the capacity is not enough, and the Interior Ministry has to bear the main burden," she said. According to Iotova, the system of thermal imaging cameras designed to detect border trespassers is not working well. The fact that the population of the migrant camp in Harmanli has increased by 1,000 people shows that the problem has acquired chronic proportions - "a never-ending flow of people for which Bulgaria is unprepared."

Iotova warned that the new European Border and Coast Guard which will be launched in Bulgaria on October 6 by European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos will only be activated in dire emergency, when the migration pressure is super high, and only after a lengthy procedure. She noted that a planned additional Frontex force of 200 officers who will be deployed in Bulgaria will be concentrated around the migrant centres, where they will help process documents more quickly.

The MEP went on to say: "This is not about refugees from Syria anymore. This is about people from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. To my knowledge, 90 per cent of them have no right to international protection and refugee status. They are economic migrants, meaning they are not protected by international instruments and should be returned." Iotova is opposed to a proposal to provide uniform conditions in all refugee camps, which is being considered by her committee.

Later in the day, speaking to 200 residents of Harmanli, she said the local migrant reception centre should become a closed-type facility, but EU institutions will exert pressure to keep it open.