Bulgaria - The social impact of seasonal migration

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granted by the Bureau of the UNHCR in Sofia. In 1993, 120 persons from Croatia, mainly
women and children possessing legal refugee status, resided in Bulgaria and were
accommodated by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare through an emergency
fund of the state budget (Bobeva 1994, 234).
In 1992-3, a National Bureau for Territorial Asylum and Refugees was established, which
in 1999-2000 was transformed into an Agency for Refugees with the Council of Ministers,
becoming a State Agency for Refugees with the Council of Ministers in December 2002.
This institution manages, coordinates and controls the implementation of the state
policy for granting a refugee and humanitarian status to foreigners in the Republic of
Bulgaria. It has five directorates, an inspectorate, and three territorial units, namely two
registration and reception centres in Sofia and in the village of Banya, Nova Zagora
municipality, as well as one integration centre in Sofia. The registration and reception
centres are responsible for conducting registration, accommodation, medical checks,
social and medical assistance, and the procedures for granting refugee and
humanitarian status until the respective decision on the application for asylum enters
into force. The integration centre provides vocational training, courses in the Bulgarian
language, social work with children and adults, and measures for cultural adaptation.
From 1993 until 1 January 2003, a total of 11 253 persons (7 601 men, 1 748 women and
1 904 children) applied for refugee status. They came from 72 states, but most of all from
Afghanistan, Iraq, Armenia, Yugoslavia and Iran. In 2002, Afghanistan lost its position of
a Top 1 country of origin of asylum seekers to Iraq, followed by Armenia, Nigeria, Iran
and Sudan (Graph 4, 6 and 7).
The channels asylum seekers used so as to arrive in Bulgaria are usually illegal, through
the green border with Turkey. Immigrants from Africa also cross primarily the border
with Turkey, illegally and in groups, although some of them (Nigerians) might arrive
legally on the airport, with passports, tourist vouchers or business visas, but to present
themselves without passports to the State Agency for Refugees. There are single cases
of persons attempting to cross illegally the "blue" border on the Black Sea and the
Danube river, and around 100 such cases a year on Sofia Airport. The biggest share of
irregular immigrants of all nationalities comes from Istanbul, from Zeytinburnu district,
where the poorest of immigrants live and wait to be transferred further west. As a rule,
unauthorised crossings happen in groups of 10-25 people, their size depending on the
traffic organiser. In the previous years, the groups were led mainly by co-nationals of the
migrants, while now traffickers tend to be Turks on the Turkish territory and Bulgarians
on the Bulgarian territory. The rough price of trafficking through the Bulgarian-Turkish
border amounts to 450-600 USD/person. The majority enters in sealed trucks, which
arrive in Sofia and drop the immigrants in the vicinity of the capital, or even on the
barren field right in front of the State Agency for Refugees' building (interview No. 8 and
interview No. 9).
Of all the applicants, 1 356 persons (including 327 children) were granted refugee status
according to the Geneva Convention of 1951. 24% of them are aged up to 17, and 76% are
of 18-59 years of age. Thus the number of refugees in working age is 3 times higher than
that of children (Graph 5).
Humanitarian protection was granted to 2 668, people, of whom 595 children and 245
women (Graph 8).
The applications of a total of 2 287 asylum seekers (of them 469 children) were officially