Open Letter
on the Situation at the EU’s Borders with Turkey and Bulgaria’a Responsibility
On March 13, 2020, 19 Bulgarian civil society organiztions and activists sent an open letter to Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and EC Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson, calling for the Bulgarian government and the European Commussion to take steps so that
- Bulgaria uses according to its purpose the already built with European funds infrastructure for the reception of asylum seekers, by receiving on its territory asylum seekers currently situated in Greece, including unaccompanied children
- Bulgaria ensures safe access to asylum procedure in Bulgaria to the people situated along the borders with Turkey and ends all practices of pushing them back from the border
- Bulgaria commits to a quota for the resettlement of persons in need of international protection located on the territory of third countries that corresponds to its capacity and takes into account the enormous need of such measures
The undersigned organizations appeal: „We must not forget that migrants, whether fleeing military conflict or leaving their countries for other reasons, have human rights that we must respect!“
The full text of the letter (in Bulgarian and English) and the names of the signatories can be found here.
