Bulgaria - The social impact of seasonal migration

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In 1998-2002, the Danish Embassy in Sofia had issued 80-200 residence and work permits
to Bulgarian citizens per year. The total number was divided more or less evenly into
three categories, i.e. 1) students, 2) professionals going to work in Denmark (typically
doctors, engineers, and IT experts), and 3) Bulgarian citizens who have married Danish
citizens and who are settling in Denmark. 12
The Bulgarian government applies administrative measures against Bulgarians who
have violated foreign countries' legislation, namely a ban on exiting the country for a
certain period of time. Last year it was up to 1 year, but now it has been extended to up
to 2 years, in order to prevent criminal behaviour of Bulgarian citizens abroad. The
measure is enforced through taking the passport from the offender and sending it to the
passport authorities in the offender's place of residence. According to border police
experts, their work will be significantly facilitated if Bulgaria becomes a member of
Europol. A new law for fighting the trafficking in humans was promulgated in the State
Gazette of 20 May 2003, which places a special emphasis on the protection of victims
who agree to testify against traffic organisers. It establishes a National Commission for
Fighting the Trafficking in Humans whose president will be a vice-premier.
3.2. Factors contributing to immigration
One of the pull factors for people seeking asylum in Bulgaria is the financial, social and
health assistance the applicants for refugee status automatically receive upon
registration and during potential appeal. They are given 40 BGN/month, and their
accommodation, health care and education of children is covered by the State Agency
for Refugees. According to a high-ranking official from the embassy of Afghanistan in
Bulgaria, these conditions are "100 times better than those in Turkey, Pakistan, and
Afghanistan itself" (interview No. 14). This assistance is thought to be one of the reasons
for which a lot of irregular immigrants to Bulgaria decide to apply for a refugee status,
thus legalizing their presence in the country at least for a while.
According to the State Agency for Refugees, more than 70% of asylum seekers do not
comply with neither of the 5 conditions for granting refugee status, namely to be
prosecuted because of their racial, religious, national, social or political identity. The
Agency has found out that the majority of asylum seekers are economic migrants,
sometimes even those coming from Iraq. During the interviewing procedure at its
offices, it often turns out that the push factors behind migration had been the dire
economic situation in Iraq rather than the dictatorship and the political climate. Some
asylum seekers from Egypt and other Arab-speaking countries pretend to be Iraqi or
Palestinian, knowing that these categories had seldom been denied refugee or
humanitarian status. The Agency employs native interpreters who recognise the
particular dialects, and apply a variety of measures to check the claimed identity, i.e.
asking questions about the currency in Iraq or details of Baghdad's topography. The
asylum seekers learn about the practices of the Agency in Istanbul, in Zeytinburnu
district, where they wait to be trafficked to the west (interview No. 9). Communication
with immigrants from Africa is easier for they speak English and French, yet almost all
of them are economic migrants.
12 The project team thanks the Danish embassy in Sofia for the data provided