A dysfunctional fence, a lack of border policemen and poor and insufficient equipment were among the problems Interior Minister Ivan Demerdzhiev raised during a parliamentary hearing convened Thursday to discuss the recent death of a border policeman.
The hearing occurred in response to the death of a 30-year-old border policeman who was shot from Turkish territory while patrolling the border and examining a cut in the metal fence. Two people have been detained in Turkey for the murder.
There are not enough trained border policemen, their equipment is insufficient, the roads are in bad condition, there are not enough cars, and the fencing equipment does not work correctly, Demerdzhiev told lawmakers.
To better manage the significant migrant flows from Afghanistan and the Middle East, Bulgaria erected a 234-kilometre-long metal fence, for which construction worth €100 million was completed in 2017.
However, the metal net from which the fence is made is not strong enough, and holes are discovered daily, the minister explained, adding that the fence’s height makes it easy to climb.
“The condition of the fence changes daily, and border guards, who do not have the duty to repair the facility, use every spare minute to help restore it. It is very controversial to what extent the facility affects the protection of the Bulgarian-Turkish border, and it is controversial how much it supports the efforts of the border police,” the minister added.
Police officers would prefer not to have the fence and instead have better lighting that would allow them to see a larger area when they are patrolling in the dark, he added.
The minister also said he would grow the border police force by 1,260 people to remedy the staffing cuts over the past ten years that have seen 1,300 leave.
Transport facilities are also lacking, with the minister pointing to a small number of cars that can be used by border police and those in operation being unsuitable for the terrain at the border. Poor road conditions also mean the repairs are frequent.
Equipment is also an issue. Bulletproof vests, which are in all border patrol vehicles, weigh “12 kilograms”, and “officers rarely use it because it is heavy and uncomfortable.”
“We have taken actions to supply more modern, lighter, easier-to-use bulletproof vests,” said the minister, though this implies conducting public procurement, which takes time.
(Krassen Nikolov | EURACTIV.bg)
Source: euractiv.com
