Afghan migrant shot dead as EU strikes deal with Turkey
UNFORTUNATE The fatal border shooting was the first of its kind in Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War 2, says UN
SREDETS, BULGARIA: The European Union on Friday grappled with a dark new turn in its refugee crisis after Bulgarian border guards shot dead an Afghan migrant in the first such fatality in the months-long humanitarian drama.
The incident — described by Bulgaria as an accident that it deeply regretted — occurred late Thursday, just before the EU and Turkey struck a deal aimed at stemming a massive influx of migrants into the bloc.
The accord, meanwhile, appeared to hit an early bump in the road as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan mocked Brussels for its contribution in tackling the Syrian refugee crisis and challenged it to take Ankara’s bid for EU membership more seriously.
The fatal border shooting was the first of its kind in Europe’s worst refugee crisis since World War 2, the UN refugee agency said.
The man was among a group of 54 migrants spotted by a patrol near the southeastern town of Sredets close to the Turkish border, Bulgarian interior ministry official Georgy Kostov said Friday.
Officers fired warning shots into the air and “a migrant was injured by a ricochet -- according to the testimony of one of the three police officers -- and succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital,” he said.
The migrants “did not obey” a police order to stop, the official said. “None of the migrants were armed, but they put up resistance.”
A spokesman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Bulgaria called the incident “very regrettable” and said it showed that reinforcing borders was not the answer to the crisis.
“This plan for barriers, fences and police cannot solve the problem of desperate people,” Boris Cheshirkov said.
‘READY TO HELP’
The incident prompted Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to fly home from a summit of European leaders in Brussels where the agreement with Turkey was announced.
Under the plan, Turkey agreed to tackle people-smugglers and take measures to keep more of the millions of refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict from crossing by sea to Europe.
In exchange, European leaders agreed to give Ankara more funds to tackle the problem and spead up working on easing visa restrictions on Turkish citizens travelling to Europe.
The deal was settled after European Commission officials visited Turkey in a last-ditch bid to persuade the government to back the plan, following a visit by Erdogan to Brussels last week.
Erdogan, on Friday, jabbed at the EU for its vaunted role in the Syrian refugee crisis. AFP