Bulgaria refused entry to 7955 non-EU nationals in 2022
Bulgaria refused entry to 7955 non-EU nationals in 2022, European Union statistics agency Eurostat said on May 5, in a report on immigration law enforcement in the EU.
The number refused entry to Bulgaria was up from 6180 in 2021, and 4685 in 2020, the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to Eurostat, a total of 10 135 non-EU nationals were found to be illegally present in Bulgaria in 2022 – a vast increase compared with 3200 in 2021 and 670 in 2020.
The numbers of non-EU nationals ordered to leave Bulgaria changed significantly over the four quarters of 2022.
In the first quarter, the figure was 260, followed by 255 in the second quarter, 510 in the third quarter and a jump to 3235 in the fourth quarter.
In 2022, 141 060 non-EU citizens were refused entry into the EU territory while 1.08 million were found to be illegally present in one of the EU countries, Eurostat said.
The number of non-EU citizens issued with an order to leave an EU member state was 422 400.
Following an order to leave, 96 795 non-EU citizens were returned to another country (including other EU countries), and of this, 77 530 were returned outside the EU.
In 2022, about 141 060 non-EU citizens were refused entry into the EU at one of its external borders, up one per cent compared with 139 000 in the previous year.
The largest number of refusals of entry were reported by Poland (23 330), followed by Hungary (15 780), Croatia (11 800) and Ireland (9240).
Ukrainian citizens accounted for the largest number of refusals in the EU (28 890, down 43 per cent compared with 2021).
Eurostat said that notably, the main reasons for refusing entry to Ukrainians were: “persons already stayed three months in a six-month period’ (27 per cent of the total refusals of Ukrainians in the EU), “no valid visa or residence permit” (21 per cent) and “purpose and conditions of stay not justified” (20 per cent). The next largest numbers were recorded for citizens of Albania (15 630) and Russia (10 860).
In 2022, about 1.08 million non-EU citizens were found to be illegally present in the EU, indicating a 59 per cent increase compared with 2021 (679 730).
Hungary reported the largest number of non-EU citizens found to be illegally present in the EU (222 520), followed by Germany (198 310) and Italy (138 420).
Syrians accounted for the highest number of people found to be illegally present in the EU (175 960).
The next highest numbers were recorded for citizens of Afghanistan (119 520) and Morocco (60 215)
In 2022, about 422 400 non-EU citizens were ordered to leave the territory of the EU countries, up 23 per cent compared with the previous year (342 100).
Among EU countries, France reported the largest number of non-EU citizens ordered to leave its territory (135 650), followed by Croatia (40 525) and Greece (33 500).
The highest number of people ordered to leave a member state territory was observed among Algerians (33 535), Moroccans (30 510) and Pakistanis (25 280).
In 2022, about 96 795 non-EU citizens returned to another country following an order to leave the territory of a specific EU country.
France reported the largest number of non-EU citizens returned (14 240), followed by Germany (13 130) and Sweden (10 490).
Albanians (9950) topped the list of non-EU citizens returned to another country, followed by Georgians (8040) and Syrians (5590), Eurostat said.
(Photo: Interior Ministry press centre)
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