War refugees from Ukraine are to be moved from Bulgarian hotels on the Black Sea Coast to reception centers before the holiday season begins, the government in Sofia has said. The EU member state is currently home to some 90,000 refugees from Ukraine.
Human Rights Watch has accused Bulgarian authorities of attacking Afghan and other asylum-seekers, using police dogs and other violence to illegally push them back into Turkey.
Kalina Yordanova is a clinical psychologist in Bulgaria who has been working with refugees since 2009. She has recently been applying her expertise to help Ukrainians via an online platform called 'Кожа'.
Lena* is a communications professional. She ran her own agency in Ukraine and was used to being independent. Five days after the war started, she felt she had no other option but to flee Kyiv with her son. She is now in Bulgaria, attempting to put her life back together again "from scratch."
Lena* is a communications professional, who ran her own agency in Ukraine. She was used to living an independent life. Five days after the war started, she felt she had no other option but to flee Kyiv with her son. In part 1 of her story, we focus on her escape from Ukraine.
Most of those who have fled Ukraine have been women and children. There are fears that they now face the risk of being trafficked and forced into prostitution.
Authorities in Germany and the Netherlands have raided accommodation centers where migrant workers are being kept in squalid conditions by unscrupulous employers. Police also confirmed that some are being smuggled in illegally from Eastern Europe.
Germany remains the number one destination country for migrants in Europe, according to the Migration Report 2020, published by the German government on Wednesday. Overall immigration to Germany, however, fell by 23.9% compared to numbers in 2019.
350 Bulgarian soldiers were sent to the Turkish border to back up the border police on Monday after increasing numbers of migrants were attempting to enter Bulgaria from Turkey.
France deported four Afghans back to Bulgaria on Monday under the Dublin Regulation which allows asylum seekers to be sent back to the first country of arrival in Europe. Lawyers fear that these Afghans will now be deported back to their country of origin, as Bulgaria has not suspended its deportations to Afghanistan despite the Taliban takeover.
Bulgaria has announced that it is sending hundreds of soldiers to its southern frontiers to stop migrants from crossing from Turkey and Greece. Bulgaria's defence ministry says pressure on its borders is increasing.
While EU member states disagree over how to handle asylum seekers, all agree protecting the bloc's external borders is key. But Frontex, the agency tasked with the job, is in crisis. Marina Strauss reports from Brussels.