site.btaIllegal Attempts to Cross Turkish-Bulgarian Border Drop by 69% in January 2024 Y/Y

According to data released on Monday by the General Directorate Border Police with the Ministry of Interior, third-country nationals have made nearly 1,980 attempts to cross the Bulgarian-Turkish border illegally in January 2024. This is nearly 69% less compared to January 2023 when 6,380 attempts were made.

Nearly 1,900 migrants returned to the interior of Turkiye of their own volition after they detected the presence of Bulgarian patrols or posts along the border. Some of them may have made more than one attempt to cross into Bulgaria.

The reported decrease is the result of the measures taken by the Border Police and the good cooperation with the Turkish authorities, the Ministry of Interior said. During the period under review, 75 illegal migrants were apprehended by the Border Police of Bulgaria. The Turkish border authorities detained 10 people on their side of the border.

Most detainees at the border with Turkiye came from Afghanistan with 35, followed by Syria with 14 and Palestine with five.

The Migration Directorate's analysis of the number of foreign nationals placed in the two specialized homes shows a 26% drop. According to the analysis, 207 foreign nationals are staying at the two specialized temporary accommodation homes for foreign nationals in Sofia and Lyubimets on February 5. The homes' total capacity of 1,060 places is 20% full. On February 5, 2023, 385 people were accommodated there. In the last week, 51 foreigners have been accommodated. Since the start of the year, 405 foreigners were accommodated, most of them from Syria, followed by Afghanistan. Compared to the same period (January 1 to January 5, 2023) a decrease of 50% was reported.

According to the Ministry of Interior, a total of 18,554 third-country nationals were detained in 2023, a 10.7% increase compared to the previous year's 16,767.