The State Agency for Refugees assured that it has readiness to deal with the increasing migratory pressure towards Bulgaria.

This was announced by its chairperson Nikola Kazakov, who said on Tuesday that if the need arises the agency could increase its capacity for accommodation.

According to figures of the agency, there is a more than double increase in the number of people attempting to cross the border in the first months of the year compared to the same period in 2014.

Kazakov stated that the agency is in the possession of 1600 beds and equipment with which the accommodation capacity could be extended to 7000 people.

There were also plans for the purchase of a portable module and the EU funds for it had already been secured, daily Dnevnik informs.

Kazakov added that the purchase of two additional modules, which could accommodate 400 people each, was also planned.

In his words, the agency was working in close cooperation with all institutions in preventing the entry of terrorists along with those seeking refuge in the country.

Kazakov commented that there was no risk of 6000 refugees to be returned to Bulgaria from several European countries.

In the past months, around 200 immigrants have been attempting to cross into Bulgarian territory on a weekly basis.

In 94 % of the cases the arrests occurred at the Bulgarian-Turkish border, with more than half of the detained people coming from Syria, followed by citizens from Afghanistan and Iraq.

More than 3600 people have attempted to leave Bulgaria, mainly across the border with Serbia, which represents an almost fourfold increase compared to the first half of 2014.

The number of people, who have been granted a refugee status towards the middle of the year is nearing the number of those granted refugee status for the whole of 2014.

In 2014, 10 353 people were granted refugee status, while the corresponding figure until the end of July 2015 stood at 9233.