site.bta Government Considers Establishment of National Migration and Integration Council

Government Considers Establishment of National Migration and Integration Council


Sofia, February 3 (BTA) - A proposal to set up a National
Migration and Integration Council will be submitted to the
Council of Ministers at its weekly meeting on Wednesday by
Deputy Prime Ministers Meglena Kuneva and Ivailo Kalfin and
Interior Minister Vesselin Vouchkov, Kuneva said on Tuesday. She
 broke the news while unveiling a concept for the management and
 the development of the State Agency for Refugees.

Kuneva said that although there are several strategies
envisaging the establishment of various types of migration
councils, no such body exists and this has created chaos.

A working group headed by Deputy Interior Minister Krassimir
Tsipov is drafting an updated National Strategy for Migration,
Asylum and Integration, Kuneva said. A plan is also being
written to integrate asylum status holders into Bulgarian
society. Besides that, the team is drawing up proposals for
legislative changes to facilitate the implementation of a
successful refugee integration model.

Refugee integration is not simply a matter of choice, it is a
matter of national security, Kuneva said. Foreigners who have
acquired refugee status in Bulgaria should become part of
society and be of service to it, she said. According to her, the
 Dublin Regulation on asylum procedures needs revising, because
it creates an imbalance in the receipt of asylum seekers.

Bulgaria is trying to renegotiate funding from the European
Commission's Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and is
seeking funding from EU cohesion programmes. It is possible that
 municipalities which wish to join the refugee integration
effort could become exempt from the co-financing requirement for
 EU-supported projects, Kuneva said.