Bulgaria's Refugee Agency Using Only 13% of Accommodation Capacity

Nearly 13% of the State Agency for Refugees' accommodation capacity is being used as of April 07, the agency's chair has said.

Petya Parvanova, who has headed DAB for three weeks, has added the centers were housing 673 people as of April 05.

The figures given by Parvanova suggest a slight decrease in the number of migrants accommodated by the agency compared to the end of March, when the used capacity was nearly twenty percent.

As many as 165 people have been granted refugee status in Bulgaria since the beginning of the year, Parvanova has added, of whom 105 are Syrian, while those with humanitarian status have been 106.

There has been a drop in the share of Syrians applying for status over the first quarter of 2016 compared to the same period of the previous year, she has noted.

Between January and March of last year, Syrian nationals' application constituted 45% of the total share and those from Iraqi citizens were 14% of the total, while in 2016's first three months Syrian and Iraqi applications make up for 11% and 48% of the total, respectively.

On Thursday Parvanova said in an interview with Focus News Agency there had been 4267 applications for protection between January 01 and April 01.

She then added the agency's accommodation capacity amounted to 5 130 people but made clear it stood ready to add several hundred beds increasing the number to 6000.

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