SOFIA
European Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, on a visit to Bulgaria, has commented on the 30km long fence the country is building along its border with Turkey.
The fence is the country's attempt to stop illegal border crossings due to concerns of a Syrian refugee influx, as Bulgaria hosts around 8,800 refugees, two-thirds of whom are Syrians, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
Malmstrom said that fences and walls are short-term solutions which do not eventually solve the migration problems adding that borders must be protected using modern and humane methods in order to deal with migration and asylum seekers rights.
She continued saying that “medium and long term measures are needed instead of short-term measures.”
Bulgaria's fence project has drawn criticism from the EU and the UN as it is considered a measure for limiting the access of refugees to the country, which violates international laws on refugees.
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