On 30 April the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee published its annual human rights report for 2023. Some key issues highlighted in the report this year are judicial independence, illegal construction and homelessness, as well as the right to asylum and migration.

The report examines more than 15 topics related to human rights, including the issue of refugee integration, and notes that in 2023 Sofia Municipality’s Vitosha District remained the only municipality in the country that concluded integration agreements with newly recognised refugees. In total, 22 refugees concluded such integration agreements in the district in 2023.

The report goes on to note that no other integration measures or activities were planned, funded or available for those with refugee or humanitarian status in Bulgaria in 2023, with the exception of the continuation of a programme - of limited scope - for provision of humanitarian support to displaced persons from Ukraine. Therefore, the committee concludes, 2023 marked the tenth anniversary of a ‘zero integration’ policy in Bulgaria.