Author
Short overview of the reception system
- Access to reception: The national asylum agency SAR is the authority responsible for the reception of asylum seekers.[1] Their access to reception is guaranteed under the law, though not from the application’s submission, but from the moment of their registration as asylum applicants by the SAR.[2] The right to accommodation applies to asylum seekers subject to Dublin, accelerated and general procedures.[3] Asylum seekers who submitted a subsequent application, and which were admitted to the determination procedure, are excluded from access to reception centres, food, accommodation and social support unless they are considered to be vulnerable.[4]
- Reception centres: SAR operates two types of collective reception facilities – transit centres and reception-and-registration centres.[5] Both types can be used for registration, accommodation, medical examination and implementation of asylum procedure. They can also both operate as open or closed type centres. Originally, the transit centres were designed to operate in border areas and to accommodate only the asylum seekers subject to the accelerated procedure, while the reception-and-registration centres had to accommodate those who have been admitted to a general procedure.[6] This difference was gradually erased with series of amendments from 2002 to 2015. Moreover, safe zones for unaccompanied children were recently opened, the first one in mid-2019, and then the second one in early-2020.[7] Both are located in the reception-and-registration centre (RRC) in Sofia at the Voenna Rampa and Ovcha Kupel shelters, where children were provided round-the-clock care and support tailored to their specific and individual needs. These two safe-zones in Sofia, with an initial total capacity of 288 places, are operated by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) – Bulgaria and funded by the EC’s financial instruments. In July 2022 a report by the national Ombudsperson recommended to SAR to establish a new safe-zone in Harmanli reception center as well.[8] In May 2024 a third safe zone with a capacity for 98 children was open[9] in the biggest reception center in Harmanli, following a collaboration with UNICEF and IOM, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM). Thus, the total capacity of the safe-zone reached 346 places. Despite the decreased numbers of arrivals of unaccompanied children (-48% in 2024),[10] and even at increased capacity, the three safe zones would still be insufficient to shelter all newcomers if it was not for the extremely high 92% absconding rate. Starting from 2022, SAR begun some systematic efforts to accommodate unaccompanied children to specialized child care facilities, and in 2024 the number of the children who were able to benefit by this more appropriate type of accommodation continued to gradually increase.[11] In 2022, an internal revision of the reception centres’ capacity conducted by SAR revealed it[12] was far below the 5,160 places available that had been indicated for a long time, mainly because the designated premises were unfit for living. In 2024, SAR reported just 3,225 places available for accommodation[13] in all of its reception centres. Accommodation outside the reception centres in individual dwellings is permitted, but accessible only to asylum seekers who can financially afford to meet their rent/utilities costs and under the condition to have alleviated their right to receive any other material or social support during the procedure.[14] In 2018 the UN Human Right Committee raised concerns relating the identified need to further improve conditions for persons seeking international protection by ensuring that reception centres provide basic services, protecting asylum seekers and migrants from attacks and abuse, and by ensuring adequate access to social, psychological, rehabilitation and health-care services and benefits in practice.[15] These concerns had not been entirely addressed as of the end of 2024, mainly due to the SAR being severely underfunded during the course of the last four years. The SAR annual budgets were,[16] respectively, in 2021: 10,689,700 BGN; in 2022:14,095,300 BGN; in 2023: 12,038,218 BGN and in 2024: 11,717,200 BGN. The only budget allocated for repairs or refurbishment[17] of the reception centres was of 145,000 BGN in 2022, with no such means allocated in the 2020, 2021, 2023 or 2024 annual budgets of the asylum agency.
- Reception capacity: In 2024, the number of new arrivals in Bulgaria decreased by 45%, which also decreased the occupancy rate to 49%[18] as of the end of the year, when the country usually experiences the lowest numbers of the new arrivals due to winter weather conditions. Notwithstanding, the constantly decreasing reception capacity of the SAR (see, Overview of the main changes, Reception centers) would be raising serious concerns due to the high likelihood of over-crowding throughout spring to autumn months, if it was not for the high (99%)[19] absconding rate of Afghan applicants and the rising (57%)[20] absconding rates registered for Syrian applicants at the end of 2024. The absconding rate for Syrians increased significantly after the SAR shifted its policy, from treating these applications as manifestly founded to conducting individual assessment and determination, which resulted in higher refusal rates (see, Differential treatment of specific nationalities in the procedure). The main reason for Afghan absconding can be likely found in the low recognition rates for these nationalities, which varied from 0.1% to 14% over a ten-years period. As a consequence, many Afghan applicants do not wish to continue their asylum process in Bulgaria (see Differential treatment of specific nationalities in the procedure).
[1] Article 47(2) in conjunction with Article 48(1)(11) LAR.
[2] Article 68(1)(1) LAR.
[3] Article 29(2) LAR.
[4] Article 29(7) LAR.
[5] Article 47(2) LAR.
[6] Law on Asylum and Refugee, as adopted St.G. №54 from 31 May 2002.
[7] IOM, ‘Official opening of the first Safety Zone for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children in Bulgaria’, 29 May 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/2RnAG7N.
[8] Ombudsperson of the Republic of Bulgaria, Доклад на Националния превантивен механизъм за извършени проверки в структури на Дирекция „Миграция“ към Министерство на вътрешните работи и Държавна агенция за бежанците към Министерски съвет, available at: https://bit.ly/3IeBgzJ.
[9] SAR, Откриване на сигурна зона за непридружени деца-бежанци в РПЦ-Харманли, 16 May 2024, available in Bulgarian here.
[10] 2024: 2,601 unaccompanied children; 2023: 3,843 unaccompanied children / 2022: 3,348 unaccompanied children / 2021: 3,172 unaccompanied children.
[11] Ibid., 2022: 26 children (2 asylum seeking and 24 granted protection); 2023: 43 children (2 asylum seeking and 41 granted protection); 2024: 62 children (4 asylum seeking and 58 granted protection).
[12] 118th Coordination meeting held on 22 December 2022.
[13] SAR reg. №АД-07-7 from 14 January 2025.
[14] Article 29(9) LAR.
[15] Human Right Committee, Concluding observations on the fourth periodic report of Bulgaria, CCPR/C/BGR/CO/4, 15 November 2018, available at: https://bit.ly/39rxz7T.
[16] SAR reg. №АД-07-47 from 9 December 2024.
[17] SAR reg.№ЦУ-РД05-123/27.02.2024.
[18] 134th Coordination meeting held on 19 December 2024.
[19] 1,969 terminated procedures out of all 1,980 Afghan applicants.
[20] 4357 terminated procedures out of all 7,646 Syrian applicants.