Bulgarian Ombudsman: 782 Refugee Children are Wanted in Sofia

Over 100% overcrowding of unaccompanied refugee children in the Refugee Center "Military Ramp".

The capacity of the Security Zone in the refugee center in the capital's "Military Ramp" (Voenna Rampa) district has been increased by more than 100 percent. The zone was built in 2019 specifically for unaccompanied refugee children, with a capacity for 100 children. An inspection of the Ombudsman's staff by the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) at the end of last week found that as of August 12, 2021, 221 unaccompanied minors were registered. The focus of the Ombudsman's inquiry was especially focused on the material and living conditions, the provision of medical and non-medical specialists, the access regime of the Safe Area for unaccompanied children. This was announced by the ombudsman Diana Kovacheva.

During the inspection it was established that 146 of the minors are in the Safe Zone, and 75 of the unaccompanied children are accommodated in a physical education gym. According to the staff of the International Protection Proceedings Department (ICP) at the Registration and Reception Center (ROC), the gym is the only place where unaccompanied children can be accommodated (in case of overcrowding in the Security Zone), as there they are isolated from adult refugees and there is controlled access to the premises. The inspection of the ombudsman found extremely poor material and living conditions, extremely unacceptable and definitely unsuitable for children. An extremely worrying fact is that 75 children have only two bathrooms and two toilets, the room is completely unhygienic, and there is no furniture for storing personal belongings.

"In the context of the forthcoming fourth COVID-19 wave, gathering 75 children in one place carries the risk...