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Friday 6, December 2013
SOFIA, December 6 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency announced today that it was providing emergency assistance in Bulgaria to improve living conditions and the protection situation for refugees and asylum-seekers.
Bulgaria is currently hosting some 8,800 asylum-seekers and refugees, around two-thirds of them Syrians. Normally, the country receives only around a thousand arrivals a year so is struggling now to cope with the increased influx. The onset of winter makes poor conditions in reception facilities even worse.
“At Harmanli, a former military base around 50 kilometres from the border with Turkey, UNHCR began this week distributing hot meals to the 1,400 residents,” said UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards at a press briefing in Geneva today. Asylum-seekers have been without proper cooking facilities and cannot leave the base to buy food, he described, adding that those in other centres have not been receiving sufficient food.
“UNHCR is also planning to establish child-friendly spaces in each centre and works with partners to ensure social and legal counselling and information on asylum procedures and rights,” UNHCR spokesman Edwards told journalists. He added that UNHCR is working with the authorities to find a solution to ensure adequate and sustainable food distribution at all centres.
The medical humanitarian organization, Médecins Sans Frontières, has set up a health centre in Harmanli. UNHCR welcomed the new centre and encouraged other humanitarian organizations to follow the example.
Over the week, Bulgarian authorities have relocated most people living in summer tents to unfinished buildings, where water and sanitation systems still need urgent improvement. The authorities have also transferred a group of especially vulnerable people to more adequate facilities. The State Agency for Refugees (SAR) is planning to recruit additional staff and mobilizing registration teams to Harmanli. SAR and UNHCR co-chairs weekly meetings with all partners to improve cooperation and coordination.
UNHCR is alarmed by a recent increase in xenophobic violence, Edwards told journalists at the briefing, mentioning a reported attack on three asylum-seekers, including two Syrian men, in Sofia earlier this week. Edwards urged the authorities to take steps to stem the rising tide of xenophobia in Bulgaria.
“We are concerned by reports the authorities are planning to increase the use of closed facilities for asylum-seekers, particularly single men,” Edwards said, urging authorities to find alternatives to detention. “Seeking asylum is not a crime, and the use of detention should be a last resort,” he said.
Bulgaria has earlier deployed some 1,400 police officers along the Turkish border and started to construct a 30-kilometre fence. “There have been concerning reports of Syrians being pushed back at the border in recent weeks – contrary to the principles of international law,” UNHCR’s spokesman said. “It is important that people fleeing for their lives are allowed access to a safe haven and are able to seek international protection,” he added.
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