site.btaUNHCR Bulgaria Spokesman Cheshirkov Urges for Options for Legal Arrival of Refugees in Europe

UNHCR Bulgaria Spokesman Cheshirkov Urges for Options for Legal Arrival of Refugees in
Europe

Sofia, July 1 (BTA) - Interviewed by BTA, Spokesman of the
Bulgarian office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees Boris Cheshirkov said that options should be introduced
 whereby refugees arrive legally in Europe. Cheshirkov also
urged for more actions in response to the humanitarian crisis
which "unfolds in front of our eyes, along the borders of the
Mediterranean, the Aegean Sea and the land entryways to Europe".
 
Cheshirkov argued that in addition to the solidary distribution
of arriving refugees among European countries, options should be
 made available for the legal arrival of such people. Also, the
problems at the root of the crisis should be solved: the armed
conflicts in the Middle East and Africa, the lawlessness in
Libya.

Cheshirkov said that apparently, Bulgaria and Hungary were
recognized as countries facing a challenging situation and as
ones that need to be supported. This is the purpose of a
recently signed agreement between the Bulgarian State Agency for
 Refugees and the European Commission for urgent aid to the tune
 of 4.1 million euro, he said.

The UNHCR Bulgaria Spokesman said that although the main routes
of refugees do not go via Bulgaria, refugees will continue to
come here too. He said that there are 3,567 people accommodated
in the six centres at the moment. This is about 70 per cent of
this country's capacity for admitting people seeking shelter.
About 2,800 of the refugees are Syrians, Cheshirkov said.

Interior Ministry data show that about 200 aliens enter Bulgaria
 illegally every week. "Last week their number was 221, and the
total number since the start of the year is approximately
4,400," Cheshirkov said, adding that 70 per cent of the refugees
 who arrived in 2015 fled Syria and Iraq, and 24 per cent came
from Afghanistan.

"Our forecasts are gloomy. The world is at war, there have been
15 conflicts in the last five years that are nowhere near a
solution, and that are even getting worse, while the
international community cannot come up with united measures to
relieve human suffering and destruction in so many countries.
The bill is paid by the refugees," Cheshirkov said.