Author
There are no specific rules for information provided on rights and obligations relating to reception conditions. Asylum seekers obtain the necessary information on their legal status and access to the labour market through the information sources with regard to their rights and obligations in general (see section on Information on the Procedure).
The SAR has an obligation to provide information in a language comprehensible to the asylum seekers within 15 days from filing their application, which has to include information on the terms and procedures and rights and obligations of asylum seekers during procedures, as well as the organisations providing legal and social assistance.[1] However, in reality this was not provided within the 15-day time period laid down in Article 5 of the recast Reception Conditions Directive. In practice, prior to the increased number of asylum seekers, this information was given upon the registration of the asylum seeker in SAR territorial units by way of a brochure. Monitoring from the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee in 2021 shows that oral guidance on determination procedures is provided by caseworkers in the majority of the cases (98%) with information brochures delivered in 84% of the cases.[2]
Since 2018, some animated video information is available at the reception centres of the SAR to provide introductory information relating the rights and obligations during determination procedures. The animated videos are available in Arabic, Pashto, Dari and Kurdish Kurmanji. The law also envisages that additional information relating to the internal regulations applied in the closed centres have to be provided to asylum seekers detained therein, but this has not been delivered in practice (see Conditions in Detention Facilities).[3] The web platform asylum.bg, which provides legal and practical information on national determination procedures is available also in audio format to ensure the access to credible information to illiterate asylum seekers.
[1] Article 58(8) LAR.
[2] Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, 2021 Annual RSD Monitoring Report, 31 January 2022.
[3] Article 45e(1)(5) LAR.