Bulgaria - The social impact of seasonal migration

consulted 25). There are several examples of successful re-integration of victims of
traffic both in and outside of Sofia (interview No. 11). But one of the problems is the fear
of the victims of the traffic organisers: “I feel safely here and I want to stay here, because
when I return to Bulgaria ‘they’ will find me and I do not want to imagine what will happen
to me. The Bulgarian police could not protect me“, says a Bulgarian prostitute in Holland,
living now in a shelter there (interview No. 19).
Because of irregular migration, deportations of Bulgarian citizens from the west have
recently increased.
Graphs 1 and 2 in the Appendix show the number of deported Bulgarian citizens in 2001
and 2002, according to Border Police data.
In the last three years, there were sharp changes in the profile of women victims of
traffic coming from and through Bulgaria. While the number of women foreign citizens
expulsed from Bulgaria drastically fell, the number of Bulgarian women deported from
European countries rose. In 2000, there were 888 women foreign citizens expulsed from
Bulgaria, nearly all of them coming from former Soviet republics. In 2001, their number
was 763, and in 2002 – 34. On the opposite, while the number of Bulgarian women
deported from abroad was 679, in 2001 it rose to 1 122, and again to 1 958 in 2002. Almost
all of the women were deported from European countries, with single cases coming
from Israel, Turkey, the USA, Saudi Arabia, and Australia.
Even in countries where the presence of Bulgarian citizens is rather insignificant, one
can detect a certain rise in the number of Bulgarian immigrants, asylum seekers, and
deported Bulgarians (e.g. for staying without a visa or residence permit, working
illegally, etc.). For example, in 1998-2002, their number in Denmark was the following:
Table 22
Bulgarian Bulgarian asylum Bulgarians, other than
immigrants seekers in Denmark asylum seekers, expelled
in Denmark from Denmark
1998 87 8 (0.10% of total) 4 (0.12% of total)
1999 105 10 (0.09% of total) 2 (0.10% of total)
2000 120 11 (0.11% of total) n.d.
2001 109 21 (0.17% of total) 14 (0.81% of total)
2002 137 37 (0.86% of total) 22 (1.23% of total)
However, one should add that the number of Bulgarians integrated into and accepted
by the Danish society also rose:
Table 23
Bulgarian citizens with permanent Bulgarian citizens granted
residence in Denmark Danish citizenship
1998 352 20
1999 385 16
2000 407 39
2001 419 44
2002 445 51
45