After the latest uprising in the Harmanli asylum center, Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov is now considering deporting the entire population of the camp. Below is a panel discussion from Bulgarian television about the logistics of deportation, and the migrant role in drug trafficking.
Many thanks to Tanya T for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Transcript (based on the times in the original clip):
| 14:53 | In your opinion, why hasn’t this happened? | |
| 14:56 | This question was raised — the agreement for readmission, | |
| 14:59 | but not till December… Well, it won’t be too late, | |
| 15:02 | if it happens then. Could all these people be deported? —But 400-500 enter in a day… | |
| 15:06 | Mohamed Halaf, journalist: Yes… —And they would have to be deported right away… —Look, look… | |
| 15:09 | It takes organization; it’s not an easy thing: planes | |
| 15:13 | have to be arranged, procedures, documents, etc… | |
| 15:17 | But the real issue is different — why did it come to what happened in Harmanli — | |
| 15:23 | the closing of the camp, at the nationalists’ demand means | |
| 15:27 | cutting off the contacts between these migrants and the traffickers. | |
| 15:33 | they don’t want to remain in Bulgaria, they want, as Majd knows… | |
| 15:37 | they want to leave Bulgaria. They know very well that the way of life they expect is not here; | |
| 15:42 | they want to go to Western Europe. But, anyway, the question I raised in the beginning: | |
| 15:46 | how do they succeed in entering the country… | |
| 15:49 | Majd knows that there are organized traffickers, connected to (unintelligible) | |
| 15:53 | —Not just me, everyone knows it. | |
| 15:56 | Exactly, that’s exactly what I mean, that everyone on the market knows | |
| 15:59 | who the traffickers are, how much they take. —Both their names as well as faces? | |
| 16:02 | Where they gather… —Several governments (in Bulgaria) failed to solve this problem, | |
| 16:05 | not just the last one. This is an issue for institutions… —Wait, we can’t … —This is a problem | |
| 16:08 | that has existed for so many years and nobody… —We can’t legally… Wait, wait… | |
| 16:11 | What you are suggesting … we can’t, through breaking the law, solve our problem independently. | |
| 16:20 | We will continue in a moment… —How could we solve the problem through the traffickers alone… | |
| 16:24 | Back at the studio, Dimo Gyaurov joins us, however Majd Algafari has a lot to tell us… | |
| 16:27 | We will hear him first, what should be done at the moment. —Mr. Gyaurov will tell us presently. | |
| 16:32 | I’ve asked Mr. Slavov and Mr. Enchev to remain in the studio as well. | |
| 16:38 | Mr. Algafari, are these Afghans, are they Pakistanis, and could they quickly | |
| 16:42 | be sent back to where they came from, if they are not refugees? | |
| 16:46 | I’ve said this many times, in all the media, not just in yours. | |
| 16:52 | Majd Algafari, interpreter: Everyone who enters Bulgarian territory without any kind of document | |
| 16:57 | must be taken to a center of the closed type until it is determined | |
| 17:02 | whether he really is from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, whichever country he may come from. | |
| 17:06 | Otherwise he must show documentation, because in most cases their documents are hidden in Turkey. | |
| 17:11 | After we have determined who he is, and in the case where he makes a refugee application, | |
| 17:15 | at the moment he is granted his refugee status, let’s unlock, | |
| 17:18 | metaphorically speaking, the door of the camp he is in, | |
| 17:21 | and tell him, welcome, this is the Republic of Bulgaria. Otherwise he must remain in that camp, | |
| 17:26 | and as soon as his application is rejected — on the plane and back to where he came from. | |
| 17:33 | These people, what nationality are they? Those we see on the flashes (in the videos)? | |
| 17:38 | 99% of them are Afghans, possibly 100%. They are Afghans and Pakistanis. | |
| 17:42 | How come all of them are alone? —What do you mean? | |
| 17:45 | —I see no families, I don’t see their women and children. —There are no families; | |
| 17:48 | what families could there be? Besides, does anyone ask themselves the question… | |
| 17:51 | From Afghanistan to Germany, trafficking costs nearly €10,000. | |
| 17:57 | An Afghan, between 15 and 20 years old, where does he get €10,000 from? | |
| 18:02 | From where? Besides… From where? If he really has that much money, | |
| 18:05 | and he stays in Afghanistan he would live like a king… | |
| 18:08 | What is your explanation, then? Drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, | |
| 18:12 | everything that has to do with money, and could be trafficked, they do it. | |
| 18:17 | These are not people who just came to look for some kind of… really, better life. On the contrary — | |
| 18:22 | they are looking for some kind of fiddle. Something that would bring them pots of money. | |
| 18:26 | They have loans to pay off in Afghanistan, a lot of things… | |
| 18:31 | These are not simply… these are not people who are fleeing because | |
| 18:34 | their life is in danger or because they are unemployed in Afghanistan. | |
| 18:37 | With €10,000 he cannot work in Afghanistan?! I’d never believe that. | |
| 20:41 | Yet another question, a picture immediately appeared — a volunteer | |
| 20:45 | sent them — about violence against the refugees. | |
| 20:49 | Borisov (Prime Minister) was right that one of the questions | |
| 20:52 | will be whether the police used excessive force. | |
| 20:55 | I will show you the pictures in question. Their claim is that they were peacefully and quietly | |
| 21:00 | staying in their rooms and the police came in and beat them black and blue. —I very much doubt it. | |
| 21:03 | This is unverifiable. —I very much doubt it. These… mention it because it IS being mentioned. | |
| 21:06 | These… pictures from NGOs, how somebody supposedly took pictures of something, | |
| 21:10 | and sent it to them… we’ve long known these tricks. | |
| 21:14 | That’s not all. In addition — it is quite natural, and the law foresees an option | |
| 21:19 | for the police to use force when … we witness things like those we saw yesterday. | |
| 21:26 | —On the one hand, aggression against the policemen, on the other — brutal destruction of property, | |
| 21:32 | obscene gestures at the TV cameras, —And words, but there’s no one to translate them, | |
| 21:37 | and the burning of the national flag. Was this confirmed, about the flag? | |
| 22:08 | Is it confirmed that the flag was burned? This will irritate a lot of people… | |
| 22:13 | This is a crime according to Bulgarian law, as you know… How many crimes have they committed? | |
| 22:17 | From their illegally entering Bulgaria… And so far there has not been a single convicted Afghan. | |
| 22:21 | That’s why I said a moment ago; it’s crucial that all authorities | |
| 22:24 | take a stand —You’re absolutely right. —By all authorities | |
| 22:27 | I mean not just the executive — police, prosecutor’s office, the judiciary. | |
| 22:33 | Let’s stop with these administrative punishments, the law foresees other measures. |
The process should be simple. No documents, no entry and back you go.
Where do they get €10,000 from? According to this source, the UN.
http://newobserveronline.com/un-supplying-invasion-europe/