site.bta Draft Ordinance on Integration of Refugees Posted for Public Discussion

Draft Ordinance on Integration of Refugees Posted for Public Discussion

Sofia, April 7 (BTA) - A draft ordinance on the terms and procedure for concluding, implementing and terminating an agreement on the integration of foreigners who are granted asylum or international protection was posted on the government's portal on Friday. The document is up for public discussion until April 21.

Adopted last August, the ordinance which the caretaker government scrapped on March 31, provided for arrangements which municipalities could make for the integration of foreigners who have obtained refugee or another protected status. These included arrangements for the settlers' housing accommodation, kindergartens and schools for the children, registration with a general practitioner, registration at the National Employment Agency and the Agency for Social Assistance. The integration arrangements were meant to use financing from international and national programme, including EU funding.

The ordinance was slammed as discriminatory by the Bulgarian Socialist Party from its very adoption. They argued that the Bulgarians do not enjoy the same treatment in their own country as that promised to refugees. Revoking the ordinance was also a highlight on the election platform of President Rumen Radev when he campaigned for the presidency.

The new draft ordinance proposes that the integration process start with the signing of an integration agreement by which the mayor of a municipality and the foreigner state their wish voluntarily. The agreement should envisage specific integration activities in education, employment, training, accommodation, health care, welfare benefits and social services. The municipalities are to state their wish to sign integration agreements with a specified number of foreigners who have been granted asylum or international protection.

The draft ordinance introduces indicators for more effective assessment of integration for the first time in Bulgarian legislation. The indicators are intended to evaluate the foreigners' access to education, employment, training, accommodation, health care, welfare benefits and social services. To assess each of them, the institutions will collect data on the number of children enrolled in kindergarten or school, of foreigners enrolled in universities, and of foreigners who have started work.

The draft ordinance envisages that information about the progress of each stage of the integration process will be collected. An integration log will be issued where each institution will note the outcome of the integration activities carried out in respect of the alien.

The coordination and control of the integration agreement will be performed by a deputy prime minister, aided by the administration of the Council of Ministers.

The draft ordinance lays down the obligations of the municipality mayor arising from the integration agreement. The document spells out the instances when the mayor may unilaterally terminate the agreement. The ordinance also determines the obligations of the alien under the integration agreement. He/she may lodge objections in the event of partial or full non-fulfilment an activity in the agreement on the part of the municipality mayor.

The integration agreement may be terminated by mutual consent between the municipality and the alien; where the alien has been convicted with an effective verdict with a prison sentence; in the event of withdrawal or termination of the international protection granted to the person with an effective decision. The mayor may unilaterally terminate the agreement in the event of gross violation of the public order; indecent acts demonstrating open public disrespect ascertained by the law-enforcement bodies; refusal of the alien to accept the suggested job appropriate for him/her or inclusion in programmes for employment and training; long-term absence from the municipality with which the integration agreement was signed.

The draft ordinance was discussed and approved at a meeting on April 6 of the National Migration and Integration Council.