BTA. European Institute Foundation Identifies Problems with Social, Health Status of Arriving Refugees

Chişinău, 11 apr. /MOLDPRES/. BTA. The lack of information on the social and health status of the refugees arriving in Bulgaria was noted as a problem by the European Institute Foundation. At a press conference at the BTA National Press Club in Sofia on Thursday, the results of the project "BRACE & PROTECT - Capacity Building and Policy Recommendations on Vulnerable Third-Country Nationals Seeking or Granted Temporary Protection" were presented.

The project focuses on refugees arriving and staying on the territory of Bulgaria, mainly from Ukraine, said Lubov Panayotova, Director of the European Institute. She pointed out that it is funded by the Norwegian Fund, which supports Bulgaria in the field of internal security. Their project focuses on training Border Police officers, the Migration Directorate and other structures of the Ministry of Interior, and the State Agency for Refugee Protection.

Bulgaria is more of a transit destination for Ukrainians, said Ivo Zhelev, an expert analyst on the project. He noted that 180,000 people have been granted temporary protection and 72,000 are currently residing on the territory of the country. According to him, the main problem is that refugees arriving in Bulgaria are not interviewed about their social and health status. There is no information about their education and qualifications, what income they rely on and for what period of time it would be enough for them, nor about the status of the children who travel. During these two years, the number of unaccompanied children was under 500, and they were often accompanied not by their parents but by other relatives, Zhelev said. In his words, the social care of refugees is often provided by NGOs.