Bulgarian PM: Some 300 migrants arrested after refugee camp riot
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 25 November 2016 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Bulgarian PM: Some 300 migrants arrested after refugee camp riot, 25 November 2016, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5975a28fc.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
November 25, 2016
Bulgarian riot police stand near garbage bins during clashes at the migrant reception center in the town of Harmanli on November 24.
Bulgaria's prime minister says some 300 migrants have been arrested following a riot in the country's largest refugee camp that left two dozen police injured.
"Around 300 migrants, six of them considered a threat to national security, have been arrested," Prime Minister Boyko Borisov told BNR public radio in the early hours of November 25 after visiting the camp.
Bulgarian officials said between 1,500 and 2,000 migrants were involved in the November 24 clashes at the Harmanli migrant reception center, near the border with Turkey.
The crowd, primarily made up of refugees from Afghanistan, allegedly set car tires alight and hurled stones at more than 200 police and firefighters to protest newly imposed rule banning migrants from leaving the center as a medical precaution.
Tensions have run high in the area, with local residents protesting to demand that the refugee camp be closed.
Migrants fleeing violence in the Middle East have made their way into the Balkan country despite the fence Sofia has erected along the Turkish border amid the worst migration crisis to hit Europe since 1945.
Around 13,000 migrants, most of them from Afghanistan, are currently in Bulgaria, according to official statistics.
Based on reporting by dpa, AP, and AFP
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
