As Türkiye grapples with irregular migration, Bulgaria is experiencing a drop in the number of people.
Significantly fewer irregular border crossings have been registered at Bulgaria's external EU border with Türkiye so far this year, the government in Sofia has said. "There is no increased migratory pressure on Bulgaria, but rather a permanent trend towards a reduction," acting Interior Minister Kalin Stoyanov said in Parliament on Wednesday. Since the beginning of the year, 5,200 attempts to "illegally cross" the Bulgarian-Turkish border have been prevented. In the same period last year, the figure was 15,600, Stoyanov said. Since the beginning of the year, 260 migrants have been detained inside the country. In the same period in 2023, 1,260 migrants had been detained, he continued.
Refugees from crisis-hit regions and migrants often cross the 259-kilometer (160-mile) Bulgarian-Turkish land border irregularly with the help of smugglers. In doing so, they bypass the border crossings where they would have to be registered. Many migrants then continue their journey to Central and Western Europe via Serbia, as they generally do not want to stay in Bulgaria, the poorest EU country.
The EU border protection agency Frontex wants to triple the number of its officers at Bulgaria's external EU borders with Türkiye and Serbia from March 20. Up to 600 additional Frontex officers will then be deployed in Bulgaria. The Balkan country is due to join the Schengen area of open borders from the end of March, but for the time being, only with its air and sea borders. Sofia is pushing for the checks at its land borders to be lifted soon.
On Türkiye's other northwestern border with Greece, authorities reported a more than 95% decline in irregular migrant activity this year last month. Türkiye has been the main destination for refugees trying to cross into Europe, especially since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Every year, hundreds of thousands of migrants flee civil conflict or economic hardship in their home countries with the hope of reaching Europe. Some migrants are able to make dangerous journeys over land or sea with the assistance of smugglers, who often abandon them, especially during sea journeys, after receiving thousands of dollars from each migrant. Others are stopped by Turkish security forces before crossing the border into Europe.
In some cases, neighboring Greece is accused of pushing back migrants in a controversial practice. In the Aegean Sea, Greek coast guard boats often drive out approaching migrant boats to the Greek islands. In Edirne, home to the mainland crossing between Türkiye and Greece, several cases of similar "pushbacks" were documented in the past years. In some cases, migrants were found naked and bruised after what they claimed were beatings at the hands of Greek border officials who stripped them and forced migrants to march back to the Turkish side. On the Maritsa (Meriç) River dividing two countries, migrants were in the past forced to row back to the Turkish border after their boats were turned back by Greek forces.
The latest statistics, between 2010 and 2023, show Türkiye rescued 184,175 irregular migrants from its seas after they put their lives in danger with the hope of reaching Europe. Some 923 migrants, on the other hand, ended up dead on perilous journeys in the same period, while 503 people remain unaccounted for after their boats sank. Last year alone, 20 people died while traveling to nearby Greek islands from the Turkish coast. Eleven went missing as they strived to reach the islands in the Aegean Sea, while the Turkish coast guard saved 23,977 irregular migrants from certain death.
