VZCZCXRO0190
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK
RUEHYG
DE RUEHSF #0478/01 2370655
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 250655Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY SOFIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6268
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SOFIA 000478 
 
EUR/RPM FOR POMEROY AND HALL 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KCRM KWMN SMIG KFRD ASEC PREF ELAB BU
SUBJECT:  BULGARIA: THE INS AND OUTS OF THE ASYLUM PROCESS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: While the Bulgarian government has directed 
increasing attention to human trafficking and other human rights 
issues, the plight of asylum seekers remains a serious concern. 
Asylum and refugee lawyers say Bulgarian authorities are 
prioritizing the administrative convenience of state officials over 
the rights and lives of asylum seekers.  Rights activists say the 
Bulgarians often postpone "official" recognition of asylum seeker 
status and wrongly use domestic legislation to treat asylum 
candidates as illegal immigrants facing potential deportation.  In 
many cases, asylum seekers are forced to live in inadequate 
temporary accommodation centers for six months or longer.  END 
SUMMARY. 
¶2.  (SBU) From January to June 2009, 336 people from 40 countries 
applied for refugee status in Bulgaria.  The largest group included 
135 from Iraq, 33 from Afghanistan, 16 from Armenia, 16 from Iran, 
11 from Somalia, and 10 from Syria.  Fifteen were granted refugee 
status (less than five percent of applicants), 135 were rejected, 
and 86 were granted humanitarian status.  Representatives of local 
NGOs say that the low acceptance rate in Bulgaria is not linked to 
ethnic or religious discrimination, but is a result of 
administrative complications and lack of oversight. 
LOSS OF LIBERTY IN "SAFE" COUNTRIES 
¶3.  (SBU) EU law states that refugees must apply for asylum in the 
first safe country they enter.  Since many asylum seekers are from 
the Middle East or Africa, they enter Europe via Turkey, making 
Greece and Bulgaria the most common points of entry to the EU. 
When asylum seekers enter Bulgaria illegally the border police issue 
a deportation order and move them to a "Special Center for the 
Temporary Accommodation of Foreigners."  The law stipulates that 
asylum seekers should be interviewed within three days, but often it 
takes months before such an interview is scheduled with the State 
Agency for Refugees.  In the meantime, the state pursues active 
measures to enforce deportation orders, which can result in the 
returning of the asylum seeker to the country of persecution before 
a final decision on asylum has been reached.  According to the 
Bulgarian Helsinki Committee (BHS), the Bulgarian practice of 
routinely contacting asylum seekers' countries of origin endangers 
lives and should be stopped. 
BUSMANTSI: BULGARIA'S MAIN REFUGEE DETENTION CENTER 
¶4.  (SBU) The BHC's Iliana Savova says that Busmantsi, the most 
well-known detention center in Bulgaria, violates Article Five of 
the European Convention of Human Rights regarding the right to 
liberty and security.  In a recent press interview she stated that 
the GOB detains refugees for an excessive period of time without 
making any effort to enforce a reasonable time frame for legal 
proceedings.  The State Agency for Refugees does not publish 
statistics on how many detainees have been kept in the detention 
center for longer than six months.  However, in 2008 a list created 
by the detainees themselves was released to Amnesty International 
which revealed that 46 detainees had been kept in the center in 
excess of six months, and one detainee had been held for four 
years. 
¶5. (SBU) According to rights activists, the treatment of detainees 
and the living conditions in Busmantsi are unsatisfactory.  In 
Busmantsi, anywhere from 15-20 detainees sleep in each room.  The 
guards lock the rooms at night, requiring inmates to bang on the 
door to get the attention of a guard in order to use the bathroom. 
Valeria Ilareva of Sofia University's Legal Clinic for Refugees and 
Asylum Seekers in Bulgaria told PolOff that detainees who act out in 
the center are put in isolated detention and her clients have 
informed her that the guards give detainees sedatives to keep them 
under control.  These drugs are not prescribed by any doctor, and 
according to Ilareva some detainees claim sedatives are put in their 
food if they refuse to ingest the drugs voluntarily. 
MISINFORMATION AND MISSED OPPORTUNITIES 
¶6.  (SBU) Detainees are often unaware of their right to legal 
representation due to administrative hurdles and a lack of 
translation services.  Ilareva cited a case in which her client, an 
interpreter escaping persecution in Iraq, was handed a decision in 
Bulgarian and verbally told that he had been approved.  However, the 
Bulgarian text clearly stated that his application had been 
rejected.  As a result of this misinformation, he did not contact a 
lawyer and missed the three-day window to appeal the decision. 
¶7. (SBU) The visitation policy at immigration detention centers is 
stricter than in Bulgarian prisons.  Visiting hours at Busmantsi are 
limited to two hours, mid-afternoon, two times per week.  For 
visits, reservations must be scheduled in cooperation with the 
detainee, administration, and the visitor.  Visiting slots fill 
quickly, and as a result urgent visitation is rarely a possibility. 
 This means lawyers must initiate a meeting with a client and not 
the other way around, effectively cutting off access to those 
unaware of, or unable to otherwise contact, external counsel. 
A TOUGH ROAD AHEAD 
¶8.  (SBU) Legal aid organizations are frustrated with what they say 
is the government's lack of commitment to aiding detained refugees. 
Ilareva told PolOff that the more her clinic works to raise public 
awareness of these issues, the more its privileges are taken away. 
In the past, law students at her clinic had open access to the 
records of detainees, but once they began to raise the profile of 
these issues, the center denied access.  Ilareva also mentioned that 
when media representatives visit Busmantsi, they are only allowed to 
speak with the detainees who give glowing reports of the conditions 
 
SOFIA 00000478  002 OF 002 
 
 
of the center and do not reflect the true circumstances. 
¶9.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Due to a lack of transparency and a weak 
tradition of investigative reporting, the Bulgarian public-and the 
rest of the world-remain largely unaware of the plight of asylum 
seekers.  It is unlikely that the situation will improve without 
external prodding.  END COMMENT. 
 
ORDWAY