CCPR/C/120/D/2640/2015
according to national law, asylum seekers have access to the labour market, health-care
system, social services and assistance in finding housing, in reality it is almost impossible
for this group to find a job or a safe place to live. 1 According to the authors, several
organizations, such as the Asylum Information Database and the Office of the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have reported that persons who have
been granted refugee status or subsidiary protection in Bulgaria lack opportunities to
become integrated and find lasting solutions. Refugees and humanitarian-status holders
have to ensure their integration into the local society through their own efforts and capacity,
with the limited assistance of non-governmental and volunteer organizations.2 Conditions
for children, in particular, have been described as particularly problematic by UNHCR,
which has stressed the urgent need for asylum-seeking children and children found to be in
need of international protection to be provided with access to education without further
delay.3 Reports also state that child support has been discontinued for refugee children in
Bulgaria, stating that, in November 2013, the Agency for Social Support instructed its local
departments to reject onward monthly child support allowances, which previously had been
provided for recognized individuals without any restrictions or limitations. Restrictions
continued during 2014 as well.4
3.4
Another organization has also noted that, after granting refugee or humanitarian
status (equivalent to subsidiary protection), the Government stops giving refugees the 65
leva per month which they had received as asylum seekers. Human Rights Watch
researchers met recognized refugees who were homeless and squatting in unfinished,
abandoned buildings in the vicinity of the open centres. 5 In its update of April 2014, 6
UNHCR stated that there continued to be a gap with regard to access to health care when
asylum seekers were recognized as refugees or were granted subsidiary protection.
Additionally they had to pay a monthly instalment of approximately 17 leva (8.7 euros) in
order to access the services of the national health insurance, as did nationals. Medicines
were not covered, nor was psychological care. Lack of adequate and affordable housing
was another area seriously affecting the beneficiaries of protection in Bulgaria. The authors
say that the only accessible accommodation support is that provided in the reception centres,
to which a person has access for only six months after being granted the status of asylum
seeker. In addition, it has been reported that the asylum authority evicts some refugees even
within the valid accommodation period, including those from vulnerable groups such as
sick, disabled and elderly people, single parents and families with underage children.7
3.5
The authors add that, without support from Bulgarian institutions for social inclusion
and integration, newly recognized refugees are in a highly vulnerable position, exposed to
higher risks of extreme poverty, unemployment, homelessness, xenophobic and racist
attitudes and discrimination.
3.6
Although, in 2011, the Bulgarian authorities adopted a multi-year programme for the
integration of refugees, which was supposed to run until 2020, a national audit found that
the implementation of the strategy for the integration of refugees in the period 2011-2013
had failed to produce any effect.8 The Bulgarian authorities failed to allocate any funding
for the integration programme for the year 2014, which resulted in the programme’s
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
The authors refer to two publications: Asylum Information Database, National Country Report —
Bulgaria (April 2014) and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),
Where is my Home? Homelessness and Access to Housing among Asylum-Seekers, Refugees and
Persons with International Protection in Bulgaria (Sofia, 2013), pp. 11-13.
Asylum Information Database, Country Report — Bulgaria (January 2015), p. 40.
UNHCR, Bulgaria as a Country of Asylum: UNHCR Observations on the Current Situation of
Asylum in Bulgaria (April 2014), p. 13.
Asylum Information Database, Country Report — Bulgaria (January 2015), pp. 41-42.
Human Rights Watch, “Containment plan: Bulgaria’s pushbacks and detention of Syrian and other
asylum seekers and migrants”, 28 April 2014. Available from
www.hrw.org/report/2014/04/28/containment-plan/bulgarias-pushbacks-and-detention-syrian-andother-asylum-seekers.
UNHCR, Bulgaria as a Country of Asylum, p. 12.
Asylum Information Database, Country Report — Bulgaria (January 2015), p. 41.
Council of Europe, Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe,
Following his Visit to Bulgaria from 9 to 11 February 2015 (Strasbourg, 2015), para. 124.
3