Video shows Bulgarian vigilantes tying up and arresting migrants
LONDON -- An amateur video showing vigilantes arresting three migrants and tying their hands behind their backs as they lie on the ground in a forest has aired on Bulgarian TV.
The volunteers, who are part of the nationalist Organisation for the Protection of Bulgarian Citizens, can be seen standing above them and telling them: "No Bulgaria - go back [to] Turkey", according to The Associated Press. They also order them in broken English to return to Turkey.
One of the migrants, reportedly from Afghanistan, nods his head to indicate that he understands.
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The clip was shot in a mountainous area near the Turkish border, Bulgarian BTV news website reported.
Bulgarian border police chief Antonio Angelov told the website such an arrest was illegal as it can only be carried out by police following the orders of prosecutors and judges.
However, the same police chief warned the vigilantes last week after they detained 23 refugees near the border with Turkey, Balkan Insight reported.
Angelov said the vigilantes had acted "very appropriately" but warned that such patrols were "very risky".
Bulgaria has built a razor-wire fence along 95km (59 miles) of its 269-km border with Turkey.
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