More Than 3000 People Sought Asylum in Bulgaria in Jan-Feb 2016

As many as 3150 people applied for asylum in Bulgaria in the first two months of 2016, the  State Agency for Refugees has said.

Most of these were citizens of Iraq (1719), followed by Afghanistan (917) and Syria (359), Pakistan (94) and Iran (8).

The latest statistics come after weeks-long delays in publishing the data.

Of 210 processed asylum requests for the same period, 137 people were granted refugee status for the same period, and 73 applications were turned down.  

The statistics published by the agency do not contain information about the number of terminated asylum proceedings (normally, proceedings are cancelled upon receiving information that asylum seekers have left the country heading west).

But an agency statement reads that "the vast part" of migrants who applied for asylum have already departed from Bulgaria en route to Western Europe.

In 2015, 20391 migrants sought asylum in Bulgaria, most of them having left without waiting to be granted or refused status.