Human migration

The number of migrants and refugees who have arrived in Europe in 2015 surpassed one million.

Last week, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) had estimated that their number will certainly surpass one million by the end of the year and this was confirmed on Monday.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has announced that the number of refugees and migrants who reached Europe this year has exceeded one million.

They reached the continent by land and sea, BBC is reporting on Tuesday.

According to estimates of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the number of people subject to forced displacement will exceed 60 million for the first  time in 2015.

This means that one in every 122 people in the world has been forced to flee their home.

Turkish officials have strictly ruled out reports suggesting that the country would start imposing visa requirements on Syrians trying to enter the country, underlining that Turkey "open-door policy" for Syrians is still valid.

A total of 990,671 migrants and refugees have entered Europe in 2015 from Africa and the Middle East by a combination of irregular land and sea routes, the International organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday.

No-one should ever be detained for the sole reason that he or she is an asylum seeker, said speakers in a debate on Wednesday evening. To apply for asylum is a basic human right, and detention can only be used as a measure of last resort, they insisted.

German chancellor Angela Merkel will lead a meeting of eight European states and Turkey on the sidelines of an EU summit on Dec. 17 to discuss plans to resettle refugees from Turkey.

The European Commission has drawn up proposals to create a 1,000-strong EU borders and coastguard agency to help secure the bloc's external borders in reaction to the migrant crisis, a top official said on Dec. 11.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Konstantinos Koutras responded to journalists’ questions on the latest developments on the European level in the refugee/migration crisis:

Bulgarian authorities detained hundreds of illegal immigrants and several human smugglers in separate operations across the country.

A total of 115 illegal immigrants were detained in the border town of Svilengrad after they had entered the country from Greece by boats sailing on the Maritsa river.