Human migration

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is a hot contender for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize after opening her country’s doors to refugees fleeing from war. German tabloid Bild declared that the German leader had a good chance of entering the ranks of nobel laureates due to her response to Europe’s migrant crisis and the situation in Ukraine.

Bulgarian authorities detained 46 people suspected in human smuggling in a large-scale operation of the police, the State Agency for National Security (DANS) and the prosecutor's office.

This was announced by the Chief Secretary of the Interior Minister, Georgi Kostov on Friday, daily Dnevnikinforms.

The Bulgarian government has approved the allocation of BGN 0.5 M in additional funding to the State Agency for National Security (DANS) amid increased migratory pressure coming from the border with Turkey.

A new World Bank report on the economies of the six Balkan countries, published on Monday, warns that the region is losing a vital part of its young and educated population and urges governments to take action to deal with the consequences.

UN General Secretary Ban Ki moon called on the European countries to ‘do more’ on the refugee crisis from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly.

Croatia's Interior Ministry has said some 10 000 migrants crossed into the country on Friday, September 25 alone.

On its website, it has also put the total number of migrants who arrived at 65 000.

Bulgarian police detained 71 illegal immigrants in the capital of Sofia during an operation carried out on Thursday.

The majority of the detained immigrants are from Afghanistan, while another part are Syrian citizens, the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) informs

Thirteen men and women from Afghanistan were arrested at a flat, while other were detained in taxis.

Five of the six suspects arrested so far in the investigation of the death of 71 migrants found suffocated in an abandoned truck in Austria last month were Bulgarian nationals, AFP has said in an article about the role of Bulgarian criminal groups in human trafficking.

European Union nations have agreed at a summit held in Brussels on Sept. 23 to give an additional 1.1 billion euros in aid to the United Nations' agencies dealing with the refugee crisis in the Syria-neighboring countries, pledging greater cooperation and dialogue with Turkey, which has become the main route of migrants trying to reach European countries.

There would be a surge in right-wing extremism across Europe unless the migrant crisis isn't tackled properly, the European Commission First Vice President Frans Timmermans warned on Thursday.

'Sustainable solutions' to the migrant crisis are needed, Timmermans told the BBC radio.