State Agency for Refugees' Six Centres House 700 Children, 200 of Them Unaccompanied

Desislava Toncheva, Ivan Lazarov

Mariana Tosheva, Chair of the State Agency for Refugees, November 5 (BTA Photo/Vladimir Shokov)

Sofia,

05.11.2024 14:13

(BTA)

There are currently 700 children in the six centers of the State Agency for Refugees, of whom nearly 200 are minors and unaccompanied, said Mariana Tosheva, Chair of the State Agency for Refugees with the government, at a forum on forcibly displaced persons and their contribution to the host country.

In a discussion panel dedicated to education, Tosheva pointed out that the number of minors and unaccompanied children arriving in this country is not decreasing.

She explained that the National Refugee Integration Programme should have a well-developed section on working with children. "Bulgaria has and continues to walk a difficult and complex path in the field of asylum, migration and social inclusion and migration policies. It has its extremely good examples and one of them is integration through education," she said during the discussion.

"The dynamics in the field of migration and asylum are very extreme. If in 2013-2016 we were faced with the seriousness of taking in thousands of Syrian families and being able to help these children go to school, in the last few years we have witnessed the people of Ukraine fleeing the war. For the first time, the European Union has activated the Temporary Protection Directive, which means that at a certain point many people have rights that they need to realize. This is a huge challenge. It was a test for the institutions," Tosheva pointed out.

"The lack of initial motivation among Ukrainian children to start studying in a Bulgarian school was overcome. The question of what happens to the children from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and why they flee remains a bit on the sidelines," she also pointed out. The forum, held at the Vrana Royal Palace, was organized by PanEuropa Bulgaria, UNHCR Bulgaria and the Liberal Institute for Political Analyses.

After the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022, more than 193,000 people received temporary protection in Bulgaria, the organizers of the event explained. As the EU's external border, Bulgaria plays a crucial role in refugee protection and receives displaced persons not only from Ukraine but also from countries such as Syria and Afghanistan. However, Bulgaria remains one of the few EU countries without a national integration policy. This event aims to highlight the importance of inclusive policies that enable refugees to fully exercise their rights and actively contribute to the communities that host them. Genuine integration takes place within the community, fostering mutual development and resilience that enrich both refugees and their host societies, said the organizers.

The forum features discussions dedicated to the stories of refugees and their host communities, and participants shared personal stories of achievement, resilience and positive impact on community development. The event will feature Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Seda Kuzucu, UNHCR Representative in Bulgaria, deputy ministers of education and science, and of labour and social policy, directors, writers.

/DT/