CAMBIOS DE DEDICACIÓN MIEMBROS PERSONAL ACADÉMICO

The Bulgarian southern border has a total length of 752 km separating Bulgaria from Greece and Turkey. The Bulgarian-Turkish border is 259 km long. Its starts at the delta of the Rezovo River and ends at the triple border point between Bulgaria, Turkey and

109 Greece, located on an island in the Maritsa/Evros/Meriç River (in Bulgarian, Greek and Turkish). The relief of the southern border is very diverse, consisting mostly of mountains and rolling hills. However, there are many convenient passages mainly in the valleys of the rivers Maritsa, Mesta, Struma and Tunja that help avoiding the mountain ranges.

Fig. 3.2. The Bulgarian-Turkish border region (IPA).

SOURCE: European Commission – Regional Policy INFOREGIO.

Today, there are three check points on the border: Malko Tarnovo-Dereköy, Kapitan Andreevo-Kapıkule and Lesovo- Hamzabeyli.

Kırklareli and Burgas are the two most industrialized areas in the border area in Turkey and Bulgaria. Kırklareli is very dynamic compared to the Turkish national economy. On the other hand, the district of Burgas has the greatest prosperity mostly because of its seaport and tourism sector. Burgas is one of the most industrialized districts in Bulgaria. The border region is characterized mainly by the migration of qualified work force to big cities, the concentration of economic activities in cities, the low level of foreign investment, the low agricultural productivity due to lack of modern farming technology,

110 the insufficient experience and infrastructures in tourism, the diminishing water resources due to industrialization (the cross-border rivers Maritsa/Meriç, Arda and Tundja are very polluted and unfit for irrigation) and by the insufficient overall environmental monitoring (EU BORDER REGIONS - 7th European Framework Program).

From the other side, this border is an external border for the EU and a border between Bulgaria, an ex-socialist and predominantly Crtistian-Orthodox country, which belongs now to the EU and Turkey, aMuslim country with a very rapidly developing economy and with a relatively young population, compared to the rest of Europe.

Bulgaria is a transit country for those who pass through Bulgaria on their way to Western Europe. Irregular migrants enter Bulgaria mainly through the border with Turkey and to some extent through the border with Greece. The international train route Istanbul-Sofia has been frequently used by people smugglers.

The asylum applications in Bulgaria have risen substantially after year 1998, being 1.349 in year 1999, 1.755 in year 2000, 2.428 in year 2001 and 2.888 in year 2002. After year 2003 one observes a decrease of these applications until 975 in year 2007 (CHINDEA A. et al. 2008).

The number of refugees during the period 1993-2013 come from: Afghanistan 6.019, Iraq 5.485, Syria 3.782, Armenia 1.895, without citizenship 1.487, Iran 1.038, Algeria 956, Serbia and Montenegro 776, Nigeria 533, Algeria 354, Turkey 394, Sudan 347, Somalia 340, Bangladesh 313, Pakistan 294, Morocco 196, Mali 182, India 165, Ethiopia 162, Lebanon 154, Russia 154, Ghana 110, Tunisia 105 and Georgia with101 (BULGARIAN STATE AGENCY FOR REFUGEES).

In the following Table 3.2 one can see the different status given to the refugees during the same period 1993-2013.

111

Table 3.2. Own elaboration of the statistics of the asylum seeking immigrants in Bulgaria.

Status Number of immigrants

Given refugee status 1.562 (364 children)

Refusal of refugee status 6.760 (732 children)

Suspended refugee status 361 (2 children)

Revoked status 3

Revoked humanitarian status 6

Given humanitarian status 6.023 (1.351 children)

Revoked humanitarian status 326 (112 children)

Extended humanitarian status 381 (89 children)

Non extended humanitarian status 64 (7 children)

Discontinued procedure 4.993 (847 children)

SOURCE: BULGARIAN STATE AGENCY FOR REFUGEES (2013)

The recent Syrian civil war has increased the number of the refugees coming to Bulgaria from Turkey, crossing the Bulgarian-Turkish border. Most of them cross the border near the Turkish village of Hamzabeyli, located near the border crossing check point of Hamzabeyli-Lesovo. From the village of Hamzabeyli there are unpaved roads to the border line. Then, after crossing the border the trespassers are often caught before reaching the first Bulgarian villages (Golyam Dervent and Valcha Polyana) in a forested area. This hilly area also creates problems for the Bulgarian border guards, because there is no visibility into Turkish territory, which triggers that the border patrols are often unable to reach the borderline on time to stop the trespassers. With the ongoing

112 construction of a border fence, it is likely that the trespassers will try to cross the border more eastwards.

According to the Bulgarian Agency for refugees, the number of people from the most important refugee emitting countries, seeking asylum in Bulgaria during the period 01.01.2013 – 25.10.2013 is the following:

Table 3.3. Number of persons seeking asylum in Bulgaria during the period 01.01.2013 – 31.10.2013.

Country Number of persons seeking asylum

Syria 2.982 Algeria 432 Without citizenship 412 Iraq 210 Afghanistan 193 Mali 176 Morocco 100

Total - all countries 5.232

SOURCE: BULGARIAN STATE AGENCY FOR REFUGEES (2013).

According to the information from the Bulgarian Border Police, on 25.11.2013 a total of 8.612 persons have applied for protection from which 3.252 were Syrian citizens. From this total number of persons, 4.533 are accommodated in a private address and the rest are accommodated in special centers across the country, being 1.993 in Sofia and its surroundings and 1.176 in Harmanli (close to the Bulgarian-Turkish border).

According to this statistic, the number of the Syrian citizens is higher than that reported by the Bulgarian State Agency for Refugees. Actually, the Border Police reported a total number of 6.292 Syrian citizens, entering illegally to the territory of Bulgaria from 01.01.2013 until 20.11.2013, compared to 510 in year 2012. Their entrance into

113 Bulgarian territory crossing the Bulgarian-Turkish border reached its highest in October 2013 with 2.141 people (BULGARIAN BORDER POLICE).

During 2013, the Syrian refugees are followed by the refugees from Afghanistan (1.652), Algeria (473), Palestine (459) and Mali (297).

The statistics regarding the detained citizens at the entrance of the Bulgarian external borders during 2012 and 2013 is given below:

Table 3.4. Detained citizens entering the Bulgarian external borders 2012-2013.

Month 2012 2013 January 41 221 February 49 246 March 28 347 April 52 295 May 70 417 June 63 423 July 86 467 August 167 1.050 September 330 2.367 October 372 3.690 November 275 1.704 December 366

SOURCE: BULGARIAN BORDER POLICE (2013).

The increase of the detained citizens after August 2013 and the decrease after October is due to the human chain of policeman.

The evolution of the detained citizens of third countries at the Bulgarian-Turkish border shows that these numbers are 791 in year 2010, 726 in year 2011, 1.886 in year 2012 and

114 11.171 in year 2013. An increase of 10 times of the intercepted persons is observed in year 2013.

One can compare these numbers with the ones of the detained citizens of third countries at the internal Bulgarian borders being (by year): 181 (2010), 226 (2011), 171 (2012) 35 (2013). The decrease of this number at the internal borders is due to the construction of the border fence between the small stretch of land border between Greece and Turkey, near the Greek village of Kastanies.

Finally, the illegal crossings exiting Bulgaria through the EU-external and EU-internal borders are represented in the following Table 3.5.

Table 3.5. Illegal crossings at the Bulgarian external and internal EU borders 2010- 2013.

Year Illegal exit crossing at Bulgarian external EU borders

Illegal exit crossing at Bulgarian internal EU borders

2010 77 119

2011 87 161

2012 164 117

2013 1.931 484

SOURCE: BULGARIAN BORDER POLICE (2013).