One thousand refugees who clashed with police on Thursday are to be moved from Bulgaria’s largest refugee camp in Harmanli into former army barracks near the Turkish border before being expelled, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov said.
All necessary preparations are to be made over the next week “so that we can isolate those who do not want to obey the rules,” Borisov said on Friday while visiting the former army barracks near the Turkish border facility that now hosts about 3,000 refugees — mainly from Afghanistan but also from Syria.
The offenders — young Afghan men who lit fires and hurled stones at police on Thursday — are to be moved to closed facilities that are now being set up in the empty barracks near the Turkish border, prior to being sent home.
Photo: AP
“They will be then expelled from Bulgaria as soon as possible,” Borisov said, adding that the first plane taking Afghan migrants out of the country is expected to leave next month.
Only Syrian families will remain in Harmanli from next year, Borisov added during a meeting with local residents who have long demanded the closure of the camp.
Several hundred police officers and water cannons were deployed on Thursday to quash a riot by about 1,500 stone-hurling refugees, protesting against being kept shut inside the camp pending medical checks.
Twenty-nine police and 20 refugees were injured in the late night clashes as police pushed the refugees back into the buildings. Four hundred refugees were detained.
Borisov on Friday said that the organizer of the riot was identified as an Afghan who was imprisoned in Germany for drug dealing before being expelled.
The man, who arrived in Bulgaria four months ago, has been detained and will be immediately expelled.
Another 18 refugees were charged on Thursday with hooliganism after smashing windows and ruining furniture in the camp’s brand new canteen, local prosecutors announced.
Bulgaria meanwhile boosted the police presence in all refugee centers across the country.
Although the so-called Balkan refugee trail was effectively shut down in March, refugees have continued to cross the Balkans in smaller numbers.
About 13,000 of them, mostly from Afghanistan, are currently trapped in Bulgaria, the EU’s poorest country.
There are also seething tensions in camps in neighboring Greece.
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