Author
The law does not expressly provide for access to reception centres for family members, legal advisers, UNHCR and NGOs. The law provides, however, that asylum seekers have the right to seek assistance from UNHCR and other government or non-governmental organisations.[1] Until the beginning of 2015, no limitations were applied in practice.
Presently, NGOs and social mediators from refugee community organisations who have signed cooperation agreements with the SAR are allowed to operate within the premises of all reception centres. Access to reception centres for other organisations and individuals requires a formal authorisation and is formally prohibited during the night. For many years, asylum seekers regularly reported that traffickers and smugglers as well as drug dealers and sex workers have almost unlimited access to reception centres, except for the Vrazhdebna shelter in Sofia (see Conditions in Reception Facilities). Starting from mid-2022, the SAR submitted several requests to the Ministry of Interior[2] to engage the police in guarding of the reception centres, but it was not before the end of 2023 when MOI initiated a procedure,[3] to investigate the possibility for SAR reception centres to be guarded by the national police and gendarmerie. In April 2024 additional amendments to the law were made,[4] but only from 31 January 2025 did the MOI took over the guarding of the reception centres of the SAR, staring with Sofia and Harmanli ones. This major change is expected to seriously improve the safety and security of asylum seekers who are accommodated in the reception centres during their procedure.
Staring from 1 January 2025, the UNHCR ceased to support any legal or social counselling or assistance directly provided to asylum seekers in SAR reception centres through its NGO partners Red Cross, Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and Council of Refugee Women and left these kinds of services to be provided exclusively in its Compass centres. Therefore, in 2025 no direct services or assistance by NGOs or UNHCR will be provided to asylum seekers in the SAR reception centres, except in Harmanli, where the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee has its regional office situated within the centre’s compound.
[1] Article 23(1) LAR.
[2] SAR, reg. No. №РД05-31 from 15 January 2024; SAR reg. №АД-07-7 from 14 January 2025.
[3] 127th Coordination meeting, held on 28 December 2023.
[4] Article 14, para 5 of the Law on Ministry of Interior, St.G. №33 from 12 April 2024.