While Bulgaria received an important number of arrivals during the refugee “crisis,” the number of irregular non-citizens apprehended in the country has decreased dramatically, including a 90 percent drop between 2015 and 2017. Despite this decrease, immigration detention has remained a key tool in Bulgaria’s response to migration and asylum flows, in addition to other measures such as the construction of a border fence. In a joint submission to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the GDP and Foundation for Access to Rights (FAR) present various recommendations that Bulgaria should be urged to initiate, including ceasing automatic detention at the border, improving detention conditions, investigating and punishing all cases of ill-treatment of detainees by staff, and employing detention measures only for the shortest period possible. Read more.
