Select a language for this section:
UNHCR has been present in Bulgaria since 1992 when the country acceded to the 1951 Geneva Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.
A Representation has been operating in Sofia since 2000.
According to recent figures, Bulgaria received 1227 asylum-seekers in 2012, including 44 unaccompanied minors and separated children. Eighteen refugees were granted status, and 159 people received a complementary form of protection. Most of Bulgaria’s asylum-seekers came from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Algeria, or were stateless.
Bulgaria has an external EU border and is preparing to join the Schengen area. Border monitoring in Bulgaria has been carried out since mid-2010 under a tripartite agreement signed between Bulgaria’s Chief Directorate Border Police, UNHCR, and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee.
Projects implemented by UNHCR Bulgaria include the Asylum System Quality Assurance and Evaluation Mechanism (ASQAEM) and the Further Developing Asylum Quality project. Both projects were part of UNHCR Quality Initiative, which aims to improve the quality of decision making on asylum claims – see further details here.
UNHCR Bulgaria was also involved in an earlier project, Improving EU Asylum Procedures: Comparative Analysis and Recommendations for Law and Practice, completed in 2010.
As a result of these projects, the asylum-seeker registration form was amended to reflect UNHCR recommendations, specific training was mandated for interpreters, and a Code of Conduct for Interpreters was developed. UNHCR continues to monitor the implementation of a number of other initiatives that emerged at this time.
Because most asylum-seekers enter Bulgaria through human smuggling or trafficking, UNHCR is involved in the work of the anti-trafficking Commissions, and works to raise awareness that asylum-seekers and refugees who can be targets for traffickers. UNHCR also tries to ensure that these people have access to protection.
UNHCR Bulgaria has conducted ‘participatory assessments’ of detention, reception and accommodation facilities since 2005, with refugees and asylum-seekers themselves take part in the assessment through interviews and focus groups. This is part of the agency’s worldwide Age, Gender and Diversity Strategy. These assessments, field visits and group discussions have been successful in revealing problems with the protection and assistance system, and have resulted in improved living conditions for asylum-seekers.
Bulgaria has acceded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. But so far there is no legal framework nor a practical mechanism in place to identify stateless people, just as there are no reliable data on the number of stateless asylum-seekers who have entered the country.
UNHCR has provided the Bulgarian government with information on how to implement such a framework and mechanism. It has also commissioned a legal study to analyse the compatibility of Bulgarian legislation with the two UN Statelessness Conventions.
UNHCR is also striving to improve refugee integration in Bulgaria by lobbying authorities to develop the appropriate policies, measures as well as monitoring and evaluation procedures. The agency has also encouraged the government to involve civil society organizations in helping refugees integrate by allocating funding to NGOs to conduct specific programmes.
Through vehicles such as the Bulgarian Council on Refugees and Migrants, UNHCR also organizes advocacy workshops and round-table discussions on refugee protection and integration.
In 2009, Bulgaria announced its intention to become a resettlement country and in the following year set up a working group on resettlement. UNHCR is assisting this group in developing Bulgaria’s first pilot resettlement programme, and has stressed that Bulgaria must improve refugee integration through Bulgarian language courses, vocational training, and job placement for resettlement to be successful.
UNHCR also uses public information to create a greater awareness of refugee protection, and correct misconceptions about refugees, migrants and irregular migrants. The agency tries to show how refugees can contribute to a host community.
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter