More than half of Bulgarians back "migrant hunters" , so-called “citizens’ patrols”

More than half of Bulgarians support to one degree or another “migrant hunters”, the self-proclaimed “citizens’ patrols” by vigilante groups who capture and force refugees out of the country, according to the results of a poll by Alpha Research.

However, a significant proportion of those polled believed that while “citizens’ patrols” should be able to arrest migrants, this should be done in conjunction with the police, according to Alpha Research, arguably one of few reliable opinion polling agencies in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria has been preoccupied in the past week by the fallout from an amateur video showing a group of men from Afghanistan being captured, forced to the ground, tied up and abusively – and in broken English – being shouted at to go back across the Turkish border.

The video, publicised widely in local media, on social networks and in the foreign media, caused a domestic political storm as Prime Minister Boiko Borissov appeared to flip-flop on the issue – denying during the week that he had expressed support for the “migrant hunters” – while a range of Bulgarian senior officials have underlined the illegality of the actions of the so-called “citizens’ patrols”...
[sofiaglobe.com]
17/4/16