Media coverage of the story of young male by the name of Dinko from the town of Yambol, catching refugees with his bare hands and bullying them for no reason has caused a serious dispute over the week. The man’s idea on the establishment of “volunteering” patrols with the purpose of chasing refugees for money found its numerous Facebook supporters and even the date was set – March 11.

At the same time different public organizations and the citizens reacted to the situation. The Association of European Journalists – Bulgaria did condemn media coverage which allowed itself to hail the usage of physical strength by Dinko, presenting the man as a “superhero”. The Bulgarian Lawyers for Human Rights Foundation called on the interior minister and the prosecutor general to stop the violence against refugees along the border, saying that the idea for the patrols was illegal. According to the foundation such actions could have unpredictable and tragic results. Different lawyers said that Dinko should be accused of illegal arrests, because the illegal border crossing didn’t change the fact that the migrants were looking for asylum. However, the prosecution refused to act due to the lack of mob law evidence. The political comments on the situation followed soon afterwards – from “a lack of sense of safety by the citizens” from the left to appeals for citizens’ patrols from the far right due to the lack of a state. Everyone sees that Bulgaria has no need to hire posses for refugees. At the same time the state changed the Defense and Armed Forces Act, enhancing reaction abilities, allowing the participation of the army in border protection by the assessment of the interior ministry. Neighboring Serbia did the same a week ago. The Dinko story only comes to show the concern of the average Bulgarian, regarding the refugee pressure, as shown by sociological polls.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev