Muslim migrants attempted to kill Bulgarian riot police Trying to Keep Them in Their Camp

Bulgarian riot police clashed with around 2,000 refugees in the country's largest migrant camp in the town of Harmanli. The facility houses around 3,000, mostly young, male and Afghan migrants. The riot was caused by a quarantine, with the camp having been sealed off following reports of skin disease outbreaks among its residents. Some men carry dangerous diseases that were previously thought to be extinct in Europe. The inhabitants protested against the temporary restrictions on leaving the center due to the risk of spreading the infection.



The refugees threw rocks at the police, set mattresses and furniture on fire and damaged structures within their own camp. 250 police officers, firefighters and gendarmerie were deployed. Riot police fought off the angry crowd with water cannons.



Officials placed the facility under quarantine after locals from the nearby town staged a protest following reports that people from the camp carried communicable skin diseases. The head of the Bulgarian Refugee Agency, which runs the camp, later said reports of the infection were false and "artificially created tension."



Meanwhile, the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), Korneliya Ninova said the recent clashes were the result of the government's policy towards refugees.



"We have been alarming about the problems – including health and routine issues there for such a long time. When they [officials] are neglecting the problem and only boast how much work they have done, this is the outcome we should expect," the politician told the media, as cited by FOCUS News Agency.



Bulgaria, the EU's poorest member state, has toughened its border controls to decrease the flows of illegal migrants. A security fence was built on its border with Turkey, while some 17,000 migrants have been detained since the start of the year, according to Reuters. Yet, Bulgarian nationalists have staged a number of protests recently, saying the country cannot support migrants even in lower numbers.