The refugees are a problematic issue not only for Bulgaria, but for the rest of the world, too. Their number in Europe is now exceeding 500,000 people. In 2012 as many as 1,400 people looked for asylum in this country, while last year those were over 11,000. In 2015 their number exceeded 9,000 by end-July only. These are new challenges, but the Bulgarian Red Cross (BRC) can help, its Chair Hristo Grigorov said for Radio Bulgaria:

“Yet in the very beginning when the first refugee wave came, we opened our crisis-time reserves warehouses and helped more than 1,500 people. The BRC has its resources, we have 5 warehouses of that kind across Bulgaria and we are fully capable of supporting 12,000 people. Thus I outline our capacity and abilities. We maintain our own radio communication network and transport vehicles and we can provide anything necessary to any part of the country within a few hours. That was how we helped when we faced the refugee issue. Later on the institutions entered in their functions, things got normal and everyone concerned took the share of responsibility. Most of the refugees have no money and are often in a very sorry state. The problem is exclusively humanitarian and we help both them and the state at the same time. For solving these issues we are partnering with the healthcare ministry, Border Police, the EU structures representatives, along with the ones of the UN. We work with all those institutions within the frameworks of our competence. Of course, they lead and we back up – but it is a powerful back up and the BRC presence has been felt.”

Data of the State Agency for Refugees shows that some 800 refugees are currently accommodated at camps with their status procedure completed and practically they should no longer be there. In fact 25 percent of them continue to stay at camps even with documents ready, as the stay and food are free there. That seriously limits the capacity for the receiving of new refugees at the increasing wave along the southern border with Turkey. The BRC will provide for the housing rent of 1,000 refugees with granted refugee status for a period of one year. What will happen, where are those people going to be accommodated, considering the xenophobic attitude at many places?

“We have contracted the funding of some 800 – 1,000 people’s rent. Volunteers will do that within a month or two. The selection is entrusted to the Agency for Refugees and a list of names will be provided. Many refugees will be accommodated in Sofia, but also in the towns of Harmanli, Haskovo, Yambol, Stara Zagora etc. There is a lot of hard work on the issue yet to be done. At the same time the xenophobic attitude is more like an exception. I must underline that the Bulgarians don’t live very comfortably and we have to accommodate refugees in these hard times. It is normal people to be irritated. The other side of the issue is purely humanitarian. If one comes to the border with us and sees a mother with 3–4 children, crying, hungry and with no appropriate clothing – not a heart could bear that. We say then: let’s help! I think that deep in its soul the Bulgarian people are not xenophobic. Whenever we appeal many people donate to refugees. The isolated cases shouldn’t mark the nation in that xenophobic manner for good.”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev