Return under the Dublin II Regulation

People who have been granted protection in Bulgaria and who have decided to go to another country to settle there for a long period may be returned to Bulgaria in respect of the bilateral readmission agreements which the Republic of Bulgaria has signed with all EU Member States, as well as with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia. Since 2016, Bulgaria has a bilateral readmission agreement with Turkey.

The return of people who have received protection in Bulgaria goes through the Border Police, but not through the State Agency for Refugees, as they are no longer responsible for them. Therefore they are not accommodated in their territorial divisions.

Returns who have received protection should find accommodation and support on their own. In the absence of funds or if they cannot find work right away, they are in danger of becoming homeless. Typically, returns who have received protection apply for humanitarian and financial assistance to the NGO sector and some of them are accommodated in a temporary accommodation center within 3 months, with an extension option for another 3 months.

People seeking protection who are returned from another EU country generally do not have any barriers to accessing them. Prior to arrival of Dublin returns, the State Agency for Refugees (SAR) informs the Border Police about their arrival and advises them whether the return had to be placed in a registration and reception center or detained in one of the special homes for temporary accommodation of aliens with the Directorate of Migration. It depends on the phase of the protection procedure.

If the return is in an open procedure, she or he returns to one of the SAR territorial divisions because SAR usually terminates the procedure when the asylum seeker leaves Bulgaria before it is finally over.

If the return’s request for protection receives a refusal in absentia (in the absence) but was not served to the asylum seeker before he or she leaves Bulgaria, the return is accommodated in a registration and reception center.

If, however, the return’s application for protection is turned down, by final decision, before he or she leaves Bulgaria or the decision has been served in absentia (in the absence) and therefore has become final, the return is accommodated in one of the special temporary accommodation centers for aliens (SCTAF) with the Migration Directorate in Busmantsi or Lyubimets.