by Our Foreign Desk

AN AFGHAN man was shot dead by Bulgarian police near the border with Turkey on Thursday night.

Interior Ministry Chief of Staff Georgi Kostov said that the man was hit by a ricochet when one officer fired warning shots at a group of 54 Afghan refugees near the southern city of Sredets. The other refugees were all taken into custody.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Bulgarian representative Boris Cheshirkov said that while some 3,100 people had died trying to reach Europe in the past three years, this was the first time a refugee had been shot.

“We are deeply shocked and regret the fatal incident,” he said.

“We are convinced that barriers, fences and police forces cannot solve the problems of people who are in a desperate situation.”

Meanwhile, Greek authorities were investigating a series of allegations that Syrian refugees who entered the country by land from Turkey were robbed and forced back across the border by police.

The refugees made more than 20 reports of attacks earlier this year in the north-eastern Evros region.

They said that Greek police officers had stolen money and belongings before pushing them back across the River Evros, which they had just forded.

And a court in Spain’s north African colony of Ceuta absolved 16 police officers of responsibility in the drowning of 15 refugees who tried to swim ashore after leaving neighbouring Morocco last year.

Interior Ministry videos show the officers firing rubber bullets and smoke grenades at the refugees on February 6 2014 as they tried to reach the safety of dry land.