site.btaBulgaria Has Not Decided Yet Whether to Stop Asylum Process for Migrants from Syria

Bulgaria's Parliament Wednesday gave a hearing to Foreign Minister Ivan Kondov and Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov about the steps taken by the government to guarantee security in connection with the processes in the Middle East and Syria in particular.

Foreign Minister Kondov said there has not been a decision yet to suspend the granting of asylum to migrants from Syria. "The situation in that country is still too insecure for us to decide that everyone can go back," he added.

"Bulgaria's position on Syria remains unchanged. We continue to support the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the Syrian state, and we fully support the efforts of the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy Geir Pedersen," he said.

"At this time, it is of the utmost importance to launch an inclusive, Syrian-led political dialogue in implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2254 to ensure an orderly peaceful and inclusive transition. We stress the need for national reunification and the building of a sovereign, democratic, multiconfessional and multi-ethnic Syrian state. It is particularly important for a democratic transition to preserve functional state institutions and to renounce violence and extremism," Kondov added.

“We urge the protection of members of all religious minorities, Christian and other faiths, as well as the safety of foreign nationals and respect for diplomatic missions in Damascus. Due to security problems, we have evacuated the Bulgarian diplomats from the embassy in Damascus, who are currently in Beirut," he said.

Ivan Kondov pointed out that they do not expect an increase in migration yet. “We believe that this process will lead to a reduction in the pressure from Syrian citizens on Bulgaria,” he said.

“At the same time, it should be clear that the migratory pressure from the Middle East will not decrease, as the processes there continue to be very destructive and there is still no peace,” the Foreign Minister pointed out. 

Kondov noted that although the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime creates opportunities for the resumption of the political process, the security situation is extremely volatile and creates risks of internal confrontation, manifestations of extremism and resurgence of terrorism. The Foreign Minister said it would be good to wait in order to see the development of the situation in the coming weeks. "We should not have any illusions. We saw that in the last ten to fifteen years the processes of democratization in the region failed," he commented.

During the hearing, Interior Minister Atanas Ilkov said no change had been observed in the security environment along the Bulgarian border and in the country's interior.

Ilkov said his Ministry is closely watching the situation and migrant movements. "We have made arrangements to receive information from the security services about Syria, Gaza and Lebanon," he noted.

More than 20 Syrian nationals residing in Bulgarian migrant camps have asked to be allowed to return home, he said.

Possible future measures include sending additional staff to the Bulgarian-Turkish border, setting up a taskforce at the Interior Ministry and having the Defence Ministry commit troops and equipment. "In the event of increased migratory pressure, all competent state authorities will be engaged according to the plan of the Council of Ministers," the Interior Minister said.

He noted that the Frontex forces in Bulgaria have been increased threefold. Under an agreement with Austria, Hungary and Romania, a 100-strong unit will service the Bulgarian-Turkish border from January 2 onward. Greece has proposed to join in.

Currently, the trend of 70% fewer attempts to cross the Bulgarian-Turkish border illegally compared to 2023 is maintained. The number of illegal migrants detected within the country is 46% less compared to last year, Ilkov said.

According to the Ministry of Interior's data on the migration situation in Bulgaria, a total of 1,298 Syrian citizens were detected and detained upon entry at the state border from January 1 to November 11, 2024, which is 53.7% of their total number. During the same period, 1,491 Syrian nationals were detected and detained upon exiting the country period, or 48,2% of the total number of violators. The third-country nationals detained for illegal stay in the country numbered 4,403, of whom 62.7% from Syria and 21.5% from Afghanistan.

As at November 29, there were 285 people accommodated at homes of the Interior Ministry's Migration Directorate and 1,656 at the centres of the State Agency for Refugees. Of them, Syrian nationals numbered 147 and 1,398, respectively.  

The State Agency for Refugees continues to accept protection applications from Syrians. The Agency told BTA Wednesday that it has kept open the procedure for protection-seekers from Syria or persons coming from Syria. Right now the Agency has no new applications from Syrians to consider. It is in the process of reviewing 4,535 old applications as the number includes those that are in trial phase.

"The situation is being monitored closely and in case the Agency receives applications for protection citing the current events, decisions will be made in a view of the current events," the Agency told BTA.