The withdrawal of the imperial Russian army from the Ottoman Balkans following the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 left the region in a state of insecurity and destruction. The lack of immediate protection by the Ottoman military exposed Ottoman citizens to new threats from independent Balkan states whose encroachment in the region included paramilitary activity and local violence. Current scholarship has focused upon the aftermath of the Treaty of Berlin, refugee movements into other Ottoman domains, and the dynamics of resettlement. However, little attention has been paid to the challenges of those migrants who sought to return to their homelands located in the region of Eastern Rumelia. This paper sheds light on how Ottoman authorities, migrants, and locals in Eastern Rumelia interacted to ensure security for their own livelihood and for the integrity of the empire following the Russo-Turkish War. I shall elaborate on three measures that were taken to reestablish Ottoman imperial authority in Eastern Rumelia: the resettlement of migrants, the establishment of local militias, and the militarizing and arming of these groups with weapons such as the Martini-Henry. Although these plans were meant to secure Ottoman interests in the Balkans, I contend that increasing Ottoman influence in Eastern Rumelia set off a local arms race and migratory scramble in the region. As the authority of other neighboring Balkan states increased, generative forces of security comprising locals, migrants, and officers were key players in maintaining the Ottoman state’s integrity and interests on the ground.