Austria Has Sent Back 52 Migrants to Bulgaria This Year, Sofia Says

Bulgaria’s State Agency for Refugees said on Thursday that a total of 52 people have been sent back to the country by the Austrian authorities this year, BGNES reported.

The statement by the government agency in charge of refugees followed a statement by Austria’s Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner that her country has sent back more than 5,000 migrants to EU member states which they had crossed on their way to Austria.

"If I remember rightly, we have sent more than 5,000 or 5,500 back from Austria, especially to Bulgaria and Romania among others," Mikl-Leitner told journalists at a meeting in Germany of the Christian Social Union party on Thursday, according to Reuters.

The Austrian Interior Minister didn’t say what the nationalities of those people were and over what time period they had been returned to other EU countries.

Around 10,700 migrants walked into Austria from Hungary last Sunday, about 200 more than the day before, highlighting the severity of the ongoing migrant crisis.