THE HAGUE, 03/07/03 - The Hague city council announced yesterday it had together with the police discovered 150 sleeping places for illegal immigrants on Tuesday evening. Groups of illegals were also picked up in Amsterdam.

The Hague police raided 22 properties and found illegals in 20, a spokesman said yesterday. He could not say how many people were involved. Thirteen of the 22 properties were completely or partially sealed off, formally due to deficient fire safety or unhygienic conditions. Raids can likely be expected soon in the other sleeping places discovered.

Police in Amsterdam announced the arrest of 68 illegals in the past few days. As well as 21 Bulgarian men involved in street theft, prostitution or trafficking in women, 24 Bulgarian prostitutes were arrested. Another 16 Rumanian street-walkers were picked up, and seven illegal Turkish men.

The Bulgarians arrested in The Hague and Amsterdam were expelled from the country yesterday. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (IND) reported that, the special 'expulsion center' opened last week at Rotterdam Airport was used for the first time for this. The group of 100 Bulgarians also included a number arrested in Rotterdam and Deventer, the IND added.

Unlike the situation in Amsterdam, The Hague illegals are often Bulgarians working in the neighboring Westland glasshouse-growing region. A TV program recently suggested that many of them return to the Netherlands a few days after being expelled and that in some Bulgarian villages, practically all the young men seek their fortune in Dutch market gardening.

Most The Hague sleeping places are based in the Schilderswijk and Transvaal districts. In the latter, a gas explosion last weekend injured 16, though all are now out of danger. The cause of the explosion remains unclear, but some residents claim that illegal immigrants siphon off gas with bicycle tyres and other home-made constructions.