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“They took our life away from us and they didn’t tell us when we would have it back”
The main respondent is a 41 year old man from Syria.He entered Bulgaria in July 2024 to try to reach Germany. He went to Sofia with a group of other people, to a house that he had from friends, and was arrested within 30 minutes of arriving at the flat. He states that the police came to their apartment and took them out – he thinks that the neighbours reported them.
Harmanli Reception Centre
The respondent was taken to Busmantsi, and detained there for 11 days. After that, they were immediately taken to Harmanli reception centre, where he applied for asylum and says he received the ‘green card’ (this card proves you are an asylum seeker in Bulgaria and acts as an ID) that is valid for 3 months. He had a voice interview there. He states that he signed the asylum papers voluntarily, but also states that “we signed it, its an order”. He did not do any of the following interviews because he left Bulgaria.He initially wanted to stay in Bulgaria and get his wife to move there with him from Syria. But his family convinced him he should go to Germany, his parents in Kuwait, his cousin in Bulgaria and his cousins in Germany, told him he should go to Germany. He decided to leave Bulgaria – he described that he believed he would have “a good life, a good future, and a good salary in Germany”. He described that Bulgaria, as it is now, is “like a destroyed Syria” and so it’s not much improvement from Syria. In Germany he would have more family to support him as well. His family told him that within 6 months he could go to Germany because his fingerprints would be ‘broken’ (meaning the Dublin deadline would have passed). He left Bulgaria at the end of July 2024 and arrived in Germany in August. He stayed there for around 3 months. He was arrested in Germany in mid November 2024. In the night, four police officers came to his room at the house where he was staying and they told him he had to be deported to Bulgaria because Bulgaria was asking for him (presumably meaning because his fingerprints were recorded in Bulgaria) and was deported to Bulgaria on the next day. He was sent with 4 other people in a commercial flight, so they had to wait until the other people had left before they could get off.
Two days later he arrived to Harmanli camp. When they arrived to the camp, he and 8 other people who had also arrived back from deportation, were put in a room with no furniture. He says he was kept in Building 10, Room 16-2. He states, “they deprived us completely”, they were given no food during the time they were in this room. The situation stayed like that until the 5th December (14 days).He states that the treatment he is facing at the camp feels like he is “facing punishment for going out to Germany”. He says, “we are dying. We are starving. There is no life. We are in a prison, that’s it.” He also states “they took our life away from us and they didn’t tell us when we would have it back”. The respondent’s green card (which proves you are an asylum seeker in Bulgaria, acting as an ID) expires today (6/03/2025) he tried to get it renewed but the camp authorities told him that the system is down so they cannot help him with it. He states that when he asks to go outside the camp to try to look for work, he is given permission only for a week – considered a ‘vacation’. This means that he does not have time to earn any money. He also states that he cannot trust the translators, because they refuse to give their full name. He also believes they are not translating things correctly for him. The respondent says he has an injury in his left leg, it was broken in 2010 in an accident. He has a metal; rod in his leg and it is 1.8cm shorter. He has never informed the camp or requested to be shown to a medical professional as he does not trust the healthcare provided by the camp. He says he is ok with the current state of his leg.The respondent states that Harmanli camp is very unhygienic, and the bedding they have to sleep on is not clean, he has seen insects on it. He says even when you ask for clean bedding they give you previously used bedding. He also explained that the food they have now is not varied or healthy, and the portions are too small. They do not know if the vegetable mix used has pork in it, so he doesn’t know if he can eat it.He states that the security in the camp often looks at them in a way that makes him uncomfortable and he thinks they are racist.
