An asylum seeker takes a leaflet on Bulgaria's asylum procedure in his mother tongue
PHOTO: B. Cheshirkov / UNHCR

Newly Arrived Asylum Seekers in Bulgaria:
From Dangerous Waters into a Legal Maze

Sofia, March 2010 - Access to information on refugee rights and procedures for asylum seekers is difficult to obtain at the border. Refugees arrive armed only with directions for entering the country given to them by smugglers. New arrivals of persons seeking protection are overwhelmed when confronted with border officials and are uncertain as to what awaits them. That is why UNHCR has begun mounting information dispensers with brochures explaining the protection procedures and refugee rights in Bulgaria.

The Maritsa River, with its 480 km length, is the longest river in the interior of the Balkans. It runs from the heart of Bulgaria's Rila Mountains, along the Greek-Turkish border and into the Aegean Sea. But, for a few short kilometres south of the village of Kapitan Andreevo it forms a pyramid, connecting Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.

If you can raise the money, to be smuggled into Bulgaria, you'll likely be faced with this treacherous waterway, a final hurdle leading to a new life. Most refugees coming from the Middle East are smuggled across the border here, where the rugged terrain and river rapids provide natural cover from the patrolling border guards.

Just before dawn, with outside temperatures pushing 30 degrees below zero, Hani a one-time Engineering student in Baghdad, boarded a fishing boat with several other travellers, hoping to quickly cross the freezing waters and reach a safe heaven, where he will not fear for his life. Halfway to safety, an incoming wave crashed into the side of the vessel and Hani lost his footing, falling overboard. When he was pulled back onto the boat he was lifeless. It was clear that he would have to be left behind, or put the others at risk of being caught.

People who seek protection in Bulgaria need to undergo the asylum procedure. This is a challenging experience for persons who are not familiar with administrative, or legal proceedings and who do not speak Bulgarian. They need to understand their rights and obligations, as well as the consequences of the procedure, before they can take informed decisions”, says Petya Karayaneva, Protection Officer with the UNHCR Office in Sofia.

In Bulgaria, the government holds responsibility for assessing applications for protection. But often the process is very cumbersome and difficult to follow for the asylum seekers, especially when there is no one to interpret for them at the border. Asylum seekers find themselves in an unknown country, unacquainted with the protection mechanisms and many times not able to effectively express their wishes.

Installing information dispensers along the external EU border is part of a regional UNHCR initiative, aimed at providing general information to newly arriving asylum seekers on their rights and the refugee determination procedure.

In Bulgaria, the information material in the dispensers is provided by the State Agency for Refugees, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and the Bulgarian Red Cross. With interpretation services being scarce, especially in rare languages, the brochures have been provided in Bulgarian, English, Arabic, Kurdish, Farsi and Pashto, the most common languages among new arrivals.

When Hani regained consciousness, it was obvious that he was in a hospital room, strapped to a series of machines reporting his vital signs. He had suffered severe hypothermia, but the outcome looked good, he was going to recover "I could have died, but I didn't. Now I just want to restart my life".

Hani was rushed to hospital by the border police officials, who found him half-dead and in shock, lying on the river bank inside the green border zone. "This is a typical place for border crossers. Outside the official crossing zone, but close to the international road." a Kapitan Andreevo border official explains, "Usually we will take asylum seekers to our administrative units, where they can write down their protection claim. It is difficult to communicate with them, unless they speak English, these brochures will help us explain."

A potential entry point for persons seeking protection
PHOTO: B. Cheshirkov / UNHCR

The EU's Eastern land border from the Baltic See in Poland to the Black Sea in Bulgaria stretches over more than 2000 KM. Over the last few years, UNHCR has installed more than 220 information dispensers at all main entry points to ensure that asylum seekers get the information they need to master the intricacies of EU asylum procedures

Hani now understand that the SAR, the Bulgarian Refugee Agency, is responsible for his asylum claim. It should take them about three months to assess whether he will get protection status in Bulgaria or not.

By Boris B Cheshirkov
UNHCR Bulgaria

NOTE: Names and certain personal details have been changed for safety reasons.