Miles from Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, a former military barracks is home to hundreds of migrants.
A New York Times investigation by Caitlin L. Chandler reveals the harsh reality at Bulgaria’s detention center in Busmantsi, where migrants returned from countries such as Germany are held for up to 18 months — even though they have committed no crime. Detainees describe overcrowded cells with up to 30 people, locked at night without toilets or running water, widespread disease and bedbugs, inadequate food, lack of medical care, and physical abuse. There are often no lawyers or translators, and Bulgarian authorities and the European border agency Frontex pressure people to sign “voluntary return” agreements to countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, or Iraq — despite the continuing insecurity there.
The investigation also includes interviews with the team of lawyers from the Center for Public Policy “Voice in Bulgaria,” who are quoted in the article.
The article follows the story of Heshham, a 27-year-old Syrian who fled the war, whose father disappeared violently, and who is trying to build a new life in Germany, from where he was returned to Bulgaria and ended up detained in Busmantsi. It also covers the story of Saudi dissident Abdulrahman al-Khalidi, who has been detained for more than four years in Busmantsi, even though his application for protection is still pending and the court has ordered his release three times.
At a time when the new EU Migration and Asylum Pact is expanding the possibilities for detention and speeding up deportations, Bulgaria is becoming a testing ground for increasingly restrictive border policies. Billions of euros have been invested in border control and the construction of detention centers, while reports of human rights violations — including violence, lack of medical care, and prolonged detention without any real possibility of return — continue to pile up. The investigation raises serious questions about the future of the European asylum system and whether fundamental rights and values are being undermined in the name of combating illegal migration.
