Marina and Daniil Kulagini are the mother and son from Uzbekistan who, together with Stefan (Mehran) Davari, were detained in the Detention Centre in Buzmantsi for deportation after 22 years of de facto residence in Bulgaria.
They arrived in our country in 2002, when Danil was 4 years old. Marina married a Bulgarian citizen from whom she had a child with Bulgarian citizenship, Danil’s half-sister, who is now 16 years old.
Due to a complicated family situation, lack of cooperation and manipulation, Marina was never able to legally settle her stay in Bulgaria as a family member of a Bulgarian citizen and lived as a hostage for years. Her failure to help her son obtain a document on reaching the age of majority is even more serious. Daniil speaks Bulgarian as his mother tongue, has been through our entire education system up to grade 12, but failed to take the matriculation exam due to a lack of ID and was unable to continue his education. He feels Bulgarian as a self-consciousness, his whole life is here, friends, social environment, memories, dreams for the future.
On 13.11.2023 Marina and Danil were detained in the Detention Centre in Buzmanci.

This photo is Marina is with her two children just a few months ago. She dreams of one, to embrace her daughter in freedom again.

In this photo, Danil is in the corridors of the Sofia-Grad Administrative Court 3 days ago, waiting for the hearing of a case against his detention order. Next to him are his class teacher from the Sofia primary school where Danil studied and the school’s deputy headmistress at the time. The Administrative Court ruled 2 days after the hearing, quashing the detention order for Danil and ordering his immediate release! Whether this decision will take effect and Danil will be free depends on whether Migration will appeal in a second instance. His return order will most likely also be quashed, but this will not change his status to “invisible”, “non-existent” on the papers.
It is unacceptable in our national migration policy and legislation not to have a regime under which a fully integrated young person with a fully Bulgarian identity, whom our society needs, cannot be legalised, with the right to stay, with legal access to the labour market, with the opportunity to study and develop.
This is human crushing and damaging to our society! We will not stop fighting to change this!