Perils of Sea Crossing Make Syrian Refugees Choose Bulgaria Land Route

Why would a family of six choose to flee war-torn Syria and pay people smugglers a ‘considerably higher’ sum to reach Europe by crossing Turkey's land border with Bulgaria rather than cross the Mediterranean in a boat to arrive in Greece?

The family of Aleppo truck driver Faisal, his wife Frida and their four daughters “is among 13,000 asylum-seekers who have beaten a path through Bulgaria this year on a trek to find a safer route to Europe, a journey with many hazards of its own as land borders harden”, the United Nations refugee agency has said.

In an article published on Friday, the UNHCR is telling the stories of several occupants of the refugee and migrant reception centre in Harmanli, in southern Bulgaria near the border with Turkey, who have found a temporary shelter there.

You can read the original news story “Fearing rough seas, refugees chance Bulgaria land route” here.