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(Left to right)The Chair of Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, the Border Police Director and the UNHCR Representative in Bulgaria sign the Memorandum of Understanding on Border Monitoring. Photo: B. Cheshirkov/UNHCR

New Memorandum Emphasises
Rights of Asylum Seekers to Enter Bulgaria

Sofia, Bulgaria, 15 April 2010 - With EU external borders getting more and more impenetrable it is getting increasingly difficult for refugees to enter EU territory and access an asylum procedure. In Bulgaria, this problem is now being resolved with a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding, signed on 14 April between the Border Police, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee. The document regulates the cooperation at Bulgarian borders for the benefit of those who are seeking protection at the borders of Bulgaria.

The Memorandum was signed in a short ceremony in the UNHCR Representation in Sofia by Border Police Director Zaharin Penov, UNHCR's Representative in Bulgaria, Milagros Leynes and the Chair of Bulgarian Helsinki Committee Krassimir Kanev. Milagros Leynes thanked the government for its active involvement and said that the document "formalizes the very good cooperation already in place since between those three institutions for many years."
"People, who had to flee from their countries usually arrive at the borders without the necessary travel documents. This Memorandum of Understanding highlights their right to enter Bulgaria and have their cases examined by asylum authorities," Leynes explained.

On behalf of UNHCR, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee is already regularly monitoring the arrival of asylum seekers at the border. Moreover, since 2003, more than 450 border guards have attended UNHCR seminars to be trained on the right of asylum seekers. UNHCR has also facilitated access to information for newly arriving asylum seekers by mounting information dispensers with brochures explaining asylum procedures and refugee rights in six common languages.
A tripartite agreement between the border authorities, UNHCR and the non-governmental sector, is a regional initiative of UNHCR in Central and Eastern Europe, which aims to create guarantees for asylum seekers.

The idea of signing a tripartite memorandum of understanding on border monitoring between UNHCR, the BHC and the Border Police was introduced to the Ministry of Interior in 2007, but little progress was achieved due to internal problems in the Ministry. However, during a meeting with the newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior in November 2009, UNHCR received assurance that the agreement would be concluded swiftly.

In Bulgaria, many of the persons seeking protection lodge their refugee status claim with the border authorities. In 2009 out of 853 asylum seekers, 244 persons lodged a protection claim with Border Police, mostly at the Turkish-Bulgarian Border.

Boris Cheshirkov

To download the MoU please click here