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Arrests of illegal immigrants down at Bulgaria's borders in Q1: minister

Xinhua, April 6, 2017 Adjust font size:

Bulgaria arrested far fewer immigrants at the country's borders from January to March this year compared to the same period of 2016, caretaker interior minister Plamen Uzunov said Thursday.

During the first three months of 2017, Bulgarian law enforcement authorities arrested 256 foreigners trying to illegally enter the country at its border with Turkey, down from 1,196 in the first quarter of 2016, Uzunov said at a national meeting of his ministry's leadership.

Meanwhile, 1,393 foreigners were arrested while attempting to illegally leave the territory from January to March 2017, while in the same period of 2016 the figure was 1,646, Uzunov said.

"Some people have made several attempts to leave Bulgaria," Uzunov said.

In addition, 102 of them were not registered in the automated fingerprint identification system and were not detained when entering the country, he said.

At a press conference later, the minister said Bulgaria stood ready to introduce new measures, should there be an increase in migratory pressure at the border with Turkey.

"We are ready to respond to any situation," Uzunov said. Endit