Bulgaria detains 13 illegal migrants near Greece border

Bulgarian authorities have detained 13 illegal migrants near the country's border with Greece, the Ministry of Interior said on Friday in a statement, reported Xinhua.

The group was detected on Thursday near the village of Padalo, after a border police patrol stopped two cars, the statement said.

The foreigners, all men aged from 18 to 31, did not have any identity documents, but 12 identified themselves as citizens of Iraq and one as an Afghan national, the statement said.

It has been established that the migrants had entered Bulgaria from Greece on foot, and the two cars were waiting for them. The final destination of the men was a Western European country, the statement said.

The investigation is ongoing, it added.

Bulgaria is located on a migrant route to Central and Western Europe. According to official data, Bulgarian authorities arrested 510 migrants in 2020 who tried to enter the country illegally.