Human migration

A new draft bill prepared by the Interior Ministry gives all second-generation immigrants living legally in Greece the right to apply for citizenship, whether they were born in the country or have completed certain levels within the Greek education system, Kathimerini has learned.

Hundreds of illegal immigrants being held at a Greek detention center launched a hunger strike Monday to protest the death of a Pakistani inmate and conditions at the overcrowded camp.

The number of illegal immigrants entering Bulgaria through the border with Greece, continues to rise, Interior Ministry sources tell Dnevnik.bg.

The information was confirmed by the Refugee Agency.

According to its data, the number of persons, apprehended at the border with Greece was 291 since the beginning of the year. For comparison, in 2013 the number was 31.

Bulgaria's border police arrested 41 Syrians at the Danube Bridge border crossing with Romania for illegally trying to leave the country, reports Vesti.bg.

They were found early on Thursday morning hiding in a truck with Turkish plates. The Turkish driver was also arrested.

Busy with the second round of presidential elections, Romanian politicians have made no comment about the landmark European Court of Justice ruling on Tuesday, which said that EU citizens who move to another member state "solely in order to obtain social assistance" may be excluded from the full range of benefits.

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The European Union should not turn into a fortress to deal with immigration but should do more to stop migrant smugglers in their tracks, the new EU commissioner for migration, home affairs and citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, told Kathimerini in his first interview since taking up the job at the beginning of the month.

European migrants made a net contribution of GBP 20 B to UK public finances between 2000 and 2011, according to economists at University College London.

Seasonal traveling agriculture workers were first brought from Sudan in the 1830s to work at the Mediterranean plain, Çukurova, by the Ottoman pasha from Kavala, Kavalalı İbrahim Pasha.

Some 73 illegal immigrants have been captured off of Turkey’s western coast during operations conducted by the Coast Guard to halt human trafficking in the Aegean Sea.

The number of illegal immigrants, seeking shelter in Bulgaria grew exponentially in September, shows data of the State Refugee Agency, quoted by Dnevnik.bg.

Only in September 6776 people sought refugee status in Bulgaria. For comparison, the total number for the entire 2013 was 7100.