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- Title
НИЕ И ДРУГИТЕ: ВЪЗМОЖНА ЛИ Е ИНТЕГРАЦИЯТА НА БЕЖАНЦИТЕ В БЪЛГАРИЯ?
- Authors
Петкова, Камелия
- Abstract
In recent years, a number of European countries, including Bulgaria, face the challenge of finding adequate solutions to dealing with refugee flows. Although in recent years the State Agency for Refugees has reported a significant decline in the number of refugees in Bulgaria, it is a problem that is still in the process of seeking a solution. According to European Statistics, last year, Bulgaria accepted only 0.5% of applications for protection of such persons in the European Union. In 2018, the number of applications submitted in the country is 2,536, while in the EU 503 900 are submitted. (www.europa.com). Worldwide, with over 25.4 million refugees, in 2018 the number of refugee and humanitarian status in Bulgaria is only 731. (www.aba.government.bg). Bulgaria remains among the so-called "transit countries". A very small proportion of asylum seekers and eligible persons remain in the country for an extended period of time. Results from a 2016 UNHCR study show that less than 10% of the 400 requested and internationally protected asylum seekers have expressed their desire to stay in the country. Most of them are established in the capital Sofia, albeit for a short period. (https://www.unhcr.org/en/).Within the project “Refugees in the Ideas of Bulgarians: Fears, Understanding and Empathy”, funded by the Research Fund at the Ministry of Education, an empirical sociological study was conducted using qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The information received is not representative, but it allows to analyze in depth the specific opinions and perceptions of the population and various representatives of the media, municipal authorities, NGOs on refugees in the country. The results of in-depth interviews and focus groups with representatives of the Roma ethnic community, officials in municipalities, representatives of non-governmental organizations are presented and analyzed in this text. The main purpose of the discussions was to outline the image of the refugee, as it is in the mind of the Bulgarian, to make concrete recommendations for facilitating their integration into society and overcoming negative prejudices and stereotypes against them. All interviews and focus groups were conducted in 2018 in Gotse Delchev, Elin Pelin and Kyustendil. The culture of modern society preaches that otherness is not an occasion for isolation, isolation and hostility (Popova, 2015:17). Diversity is locked in the potential for evolution and new opportunities in which discrimination is unacceptable in that it limits and provokes negativity and stigmatization against specific groups of persons such as refugees (Popova, 2015:17).
- Publication
Knowledge: International Journal, 2020, Vol 38, Issue 5, p1043
- ISSN
2545-4439
- Publication type
Article