Bulgaria to Build Two Additional Refugee Accommodation Centres

An accommodation center in Harmanli, in Bulgaria's south, is already packed with refugees. Photo by BGNES

Chairman of the State Agency for the Refugees Nikola Kazakov announced on Monday that two new centres for the accommodation of refugees will be built in southern Bulgaria.

Kazakov explained in an interview for the Bulgarian National Television (BNT) that an information campaign will be carried out in order to calm the citizens.

The campaign will aim to raise awareness of the origin and the number of the refugees and the reasons behind their flight.

According to Kazakov, the accommodation and provision of humanitarian aid is not sufficient for the proper integration of the refugees.

In his opinion, the refugees have to learn Bulgarian, so they can find employment in the country.

Kazakov revealed that there was neither integration programme nor Bulgarian-language training of refugees in the 2013-2014 period.

He said that at present funds have been allocated for such activities and 25 teachers were sought to work at the centres for refugees.

The government reappointed Kazakov as the head of the agency two weeks ago, previously having served in the same position between 2010 and 2013.

He added that the construction of additional fences along the border was also foreseen in order to deal with the influx of refugees.

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