Bulgaria on Wednesday said it would extend a barbed wire fence along its border with Turkey by 130 km (80 miles) further in an attempt to prevent a growing number of refugees, mainly from Syria, entering the European Union member state. Reuters report:
However, the United Nations’ refugee agency criticized the announcement by Prime Minister Boiko Borisov, saying it would endanger more lives and increase the role of human traffickers.
More than 18,000 refugees, mainly from Syria’s civil war, have crossed the border from Turkey to seek asylum in Bulgaria in the past two years, increasing the pressure on the EU’s poorest member state, data from the interior ministry showed.
Borisov’s decision will extend a 33-km fence built last year along Bulgaria’s 240-km southeastern border with Turkey. The government expects a new influx of refugees in the spring, when the weather will become more favorable.
“This (extension) is absolutely necessary,” Borisov told lawmakers. “There is no such (refugee) pressure where such facilities exist.”
