Bulgaria - The social impact of seasonal migration

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6.2. Integration of immigrants and refugees
The integration of refugees begins after their registration as asylum seekers at the State
Agency for Refugees. The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHC) has expressed its
worries that integration begins as late as that stage and has criticised the Agency for its
unwillingness to create transit centres at the borders, a fact which often leads to
refoulement and breach of human rights (Human Rights in Bulgaria in 2002). Part of this
problem lays in the inability of state institutions to distinguish between rejected
irregular immigrants and those seeking asylum, as is evident from the annual statistics
of the National Border Police Service at the Ministry of Interior. The lack of state
finances and of a programme for repatriation of irregular immigrants as well as the
impossibility of expelling illegally staying aliens, along with the lack of a normative basis
to regulate the temporary status of tolerance, are the main reasons for the unfair and
illegal lengths (in some cases several months to a year) of the administrative detention.
Once allowed on the territory of Bulgaria, asylum seekers can use the services of the
Integration Centre at the Agency. It offers courses in the Bulgarian language for
beginners, at an intermediary level, for children, and for adults, as well as professional
training in sewing, hairdressing, cosmetics, arts and crafts, etc. Between September 1996
and December 2002, over 1 700 refugees have attended these courses. Particular
attention is paid on the courses for children. The teachers in Bulgarian from the Centre
have written a special handbook for teaching Bulgarian to refugee children. Children
can participate in drawing and flower arrangement clubs, while the adults are assisted
in their communication with the Employment Offices, the social services, the municipal
authorities, etc. Exhibitions, concerts, and children's feasts also take place there.
Despite these efforts, the majority of the asylum seekers are not able to learn Bulgarian
to a sufficient level so as to find employment upon a positive decision on their status.
One of the reasons is the very short term for which they can benefit from the Centre's
services: 2-3 months for those who are granted refugee status and about a year in case
of a refusal and subsequent appeal. Yet in the latter case the motivation for learning
Bulgarian and willing to integrate into the Bulgarian society is practically non-existent.
The second reason, however, is the lack of motivation of the asylum seekers during the
status-granting procedure. They might not wish to learn the Bulgarian language until
they know whether they would receive official status or not. Poor language ability is
citied as the most powerful barrier impeding integration both by the refugees and by the
institutions dealing with them.
Upon leaving the premises of the Agency, the refugees are helped in their integration by
the Bulgarian Red Cross, the UNHCR, Caritas Foundation and the BHC. The Refugee-
Migrant Service at the Bulgarian Red Cross (RMS) offers social counselling and
information in Bulgarian, English, Persian and Arabic. It organises courses in Bulgarian
for which the refugees receive 40 BGN/month and have their transport expenses
covered. At the moment, there are 2 groups, each of 10 persons, studying Bulgarian. A
special course has been organised for 2 Iraqi women with impaired eyesight. Monthly
information on free workplaces is supplied to recognised refugees, together with
courses in sewing, cooking, bar tending, arranging flowers, etc. The RMS runs a hot
telephone line, provides psychiatric and psychological help, reimbursement of
medicines, additional nutrition for babies, kindergarten support, and distributes
monthly allowance to Convention refugees within 10 months after recognition. With the
UNHCR and the DAFI Programme, it offers scholarships and/or covers taxes of 6
recognised refugees studying at Bulgarian universities, additional classes and manuals