Bulgaria migrants: Torrid lives at bottom of people-smugglers' pyramid - BBC News

The Balkan migrant route is growing in prominence and local smugglers take high risks for little money.

1 day agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsEurope migrant crisisImage caption, The Balkan migration route has overtaken the Central Mediterranean route for numbers of irregular border crossingsBy Nick ThorpeBBC News, Bulgaria"We were driving up the hill on a single track road, and the police car was coming down it. They must have realised we were four cars in a row."

Slavi remembers vividly the day he and his fellow smugglers were caught. He has just served two and a half years in Bulgaria's notorious Boychinovtsi prison.

Each of the four cars was packed with Afghan migrants, like sardines, nine or 10 in each. The Bulgaria-Serbia border was only a few metres away.

"They turned on the blue light and drove right up to us. There was no way to escape."

The Balkan migration route is growing in importance again. Last September, according to the EU's border police organisation Frontex, this route overtook the Central Mediterranean route through Italy in numbers of irregular border crossings. Many cross through Bulgaria.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67991658?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA

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