Bulgaria to Seek Foreign Aid to Cope with Syrian Refugees
Bulgaria said Friday it might request foreign aid to cope with the ever growing numbers of illegal immigrants fleeing from Syria, for whom it has no more space.
The cash-strapped government said it had decided "to review the possibilities of receiving financial aid... from the European Union, NATO, the U.N. refugee agency and the International Organisation for Migration."
It might also make financial and humanitarian aid appeals to the Red Cross and Red Crescent international organizations, it said in a statement.
Over 1,700 Syrians have entered Bulgaria illegally from Turkey this year -- a small number compared to the tens of thousands of refugees who have fled to Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey itself.
But Bulgaria's temporary accommodation facilities -- with a total capacity of 1,100 people -- are already overflowing, forcing authorities to house newcomers in two detention centers where several families have been forced to share a room for weeks.
Under the new measures agreed on Friday, the government said it planned to increase border control cooperation with Turkey and Greece and review Sofia's crisis-response and anti-terrorism plans.
The cabinet also approved other measures such as identifying buildings that could be easily adapted to host refugees and boosting medical checks for refugees.
Source: Agence France Presse
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