Migration Report for Bulgaria

by Plamena Ivanova

Nowadays, the accelerated pace of globalization, the tendency of borderless regional integration organizations and the free movement of people, goods and commodities makes the issues on migration and integration policies more and more significant and worth discussing. Every country has its migration history and more or less every country has faced problems in dealing with this phenomenon. This report tries to look at the migration and integration trends in Bulgaria by briefly looking back at its history of migration and discussing in detail the current trends of migration in Bulgaria today.

Immigration and Internal Population Movements in Bulgaria:

Migration has become a significant point of discussion for Bulgaria a bit later in time, having in mind the political situation of the country before 1989. Like almost all ex-communist countries, Bulgaria had minor migration issues to deal with during communist time because of the fact that communist policies were quite restrictive on the movement of people, equally holding true for going abroad, moving within the country or visiting Bulgaria.

Historical Background: Migration and Ethnic Problems in Bulgaria before 1989:

Bulgaria’s first biggest migration movement was a mass exodus of Turkish population due to Bulgaria’s liberation from a 500-year of Ottoman yoke. Considerable numbers of Turkish people left the country because it was not under the rule of their own country anymore. Many Turks, however, stayed in Bulgaria because Bulgaria was the place in which they’ve always lived. Later in time, by the end of the communist regime, another mass movement of Turkish people out of Bulgaria took place. The migration of 218 000 Turks in 1989 was a result of the Bulgarian Government’s assimilation policies (Bobeva,1996; see UN Secretariat, Population Division). The so called “national revival” policies forced Turkish people to change their names to Christianized ones, denied them to observe Islamic holidays and forbade them to learn Turkish language in schools. The chauvinist “national revival” campaign still remains a shame for Bulgaria because it merely violated basic human rights. From 1990 to 1992, flows to Turkey declined but still accounted for 80% of all flows. Nevertheless, ethnic Turks still made 9.7% of the population of Bulgaria in 1992 (Bobeva, 1996; see UN Secretariat, 2002).

Current Trends of Bulgarian Immigration-Policies:

Nowadays, the fact that Bulgaria is already a member of the European Union changed the migration policies of the country to fit European policies of migration. Bulgaria implemented new international legal regulations, changed its domestic legislation, ratified international treaties and, quite important to say, ratified all twelve international legal instruments related to the fight against terrorism. The spheres which are the most unified to the European policies concern issues such as citizenship, civil registration, identity documents and policies on asylum seekers and refugees. Slightly different from the EU migration policies is the visa-free policy for citizens of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. According to recent data (March 2004), there are 2 530 foreigners in Bulgaria holding an application permit for permanent residence permit in Bulgaria (Poptodorova, 2004). Those residents are mostly coming from Macedonia (2000), Turkey (1685) and Russia (1270). In 2002 there were 7500 applications for Bulgarian citizenship, while in 2003 there were 14 306 (Poptodorova, 2004). Many Moldavians are also, and reasonably, claiming Bulgarian citizenship, mainly claiming their Bulgarian origin and self-awareness. The non-accredited Bulgarian community in Moldova speaks fluent Bulgarian language, observe Bulgarian traditions and send their children to the only Bulgarian-speaking University in Moldova.

Illegal Migration and Human Trafficking:

The geographical location of Bulgaria makes it a main country of transition for illegal migration and traffic of people. The illegal foreigners in Bulgaria are estimated to be around 10 000, but this number is estimated to be relatively low compared to other European countries (OECD, 2001; see UN Secretariat, 2002). However, a significant number of migrants do not stay in Bulgaria but proceed to other European countries (UN Secretariat, 2002). Migrants who use Bulgaria for international migration are mostly Iraqi, Pakistani and Algerians. A big number of transit migrants are also victims of human trafficking. Women are mainly the victims of this kind of trans-migration. In 2003 a law on human trafficking was adopted and its victims are now granted a special residence status. International cooperation is also one of the most useful ways for preventing human trafficking. Bulgaria cooperates with a number of countries on this issue. The UN also helps Bulgaria by developing anti-trafficking training modules for judges and prosecutors and encouraging the inclusion of this regional curriculum in the regular training in relevant institutions.

Refugees and Asylum Seekers:

Refugee issues and providing asylum for those who need are issues which Bulgaria is also concerned with. According to an assessment made by the European Commission in 1999, Bulgaria had made a substantial progress in implementing immigration and asylum regulations, even though its institutional capacity to manage migration remains weak (OECD, 2001; see UN Secretariat, 2002). One of the criteria of the EU for Bulgaria was also the changes that needed to be done in the facilities for asylum seekers and refugees. Nationals of Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Iraq and Armenia are those who come in Bulgaria for asylum. Of the 1 750 decisions made in Bulgaria between 1995 and 1999, however, less than 600 resulted in the granting of refugee status and 290 in granting the humanitarian status (UNHCR, 2000).

Modern Migration and Investment:

“Modern migration” is the so called phenomenon recently seen in Bulgaria (and countries similar to it) in which people with money migrate to places in which the local population are relatively poor and where they can have a life which they would difficultly find or even afford in their own country. This trend for Bulgaria is mainly followed by people coming from Great Britain. There are whole villages in the mountains in which the bigger percentage of the houses belongs to Englishmen. An article in Independent says that the English who decide to immigrate permanently in Bulgaria are people who want to start a new way of living in a place where “a pint of beer costs 40 cents and one can buy an apartment for 25 000 pounds”. The good part from this type of immigration is the fact that the places of “foreign demand” are really prospering from this type of migrants – there are more investments and the payment in these particular villages has grown. Recently, Bulgaria is also making a profit from a great foreign interest to invest in the country and thus there is another reason for immigrating in the country. There are quite a big number of foreign factories (Greece and Turkey) whose leaders are also foreigners, companies working in the tourist field from Germany and Spain, and other more specialized companies. Such companies open many working places for Bulgarians and thus help the economic growth.

Emigration and Movements of People out of Bulgaria:

Causes for Emigration and Main Destinations for Bulgarians:

In spite of the growing favorable economic conditions in the country, the emigration from Bulgaria is also growing. After 40 years of restrictions on free movement till 1989, a big wave of Bulgarian migrants flew out of the country. This trend, however, got normalized quite fast. At the beginning the main reasons for emigration were mainly political and ethnic (the exodus of Turks from Bulgaria). But the main reason for Bulgarian people to migrate now to other countries is the classical one - leaving for economic reasons. Bulgarians are immigrating to countries with higher living standards and very often they have only vague ideas of how they are going to be successful. Every year around 22 000 people leave Bulgaria (Poptodorova, 2004). And according to data from the National Institute for Statistics, during the past eight years 196 000 Bulgarians emigrated and 19 000 have returned (Poptodorova, 2004). The most preferable destination for Bulgarians is Germany (23%), followed by the USA (19%) – mostly Chicago (60 000 BG), Greece (8%), Spain (8%), Great Britain (6%), Italy (6%), Canada (5%) and France (4%). Immigration rate for Central and Eastern European countries is almost negligible. The data of the Agency for the Bulgarians (2001) shows that there are 4 million Bulgarians living abroad (the population of Bulgaria at the moment is less than 8 million) (Poptodorova, 2004). A sociological research done in Bulgaria in 2001 showed that 8% of the population between 15 and 60 year-old were potential emigrants who would like to leave. On the other hand, those who think they will not travel or go out of the country represent 70% of the population. 47% per cent of the emigrants leave the country to cope with financial problems, while only 5% leave in order to become better in their professional field and 4% emigrate to finish education abroad. When people emigrate to work or practice their profession the country of destination is Germany, other countries considered favorable for solving financial problems are Greece, Spain, England and Italy. An interesting fact, however, is that there are almost no remittances going in Bulgaria. Turkey, Russia and Morocco are among the highest recipients of formal remittances, given their migration rates, while Pakistan, Indonesia, Bulgaria and Romania record only small remittances despite high net out migration levels (Lucas R., 2005).

Ethnic Emigration:

The ethnic composition of the emigrants reflects the ethnic composition of the country: around 80% Bulgarian, 12% Turkish and 4% Roma. Recently, the Migration Department of Bulgaria’s Police in collaboration with Italian National Police discovered and ceased the existence of a channel for taking Bulgarian Roma children between 6 and 12 year-old out of Bulgaria and bringing them to Italy to beg on the streets. The worst part of the story was that the grown-ups involved in this trafficking were relatives of the children or friends of their parents.

Bilateral Agreements:

In the situation of Bulgaria bilateral agreements for exchange of labor force seem to be the most reasonable, legal and effective way for controlling migration. No much ago, Bulgarian university students received the chance to go to the USA and do different seasonal work there through summer student work programs that have been functioning with the United States. Each year 5 000 to 6 000 Bulgarian students go to the United Stated for various kinds of seasonal work (Poptodorova, 2004). The oldest bilateral agreement for exchange of labor was between Switzerland and Italy (1964). Many bilateral agreement were entered by western European countries with the former communist countries, notably Germany (with the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Romania), Greece (with Bulgaria and Albania), Spain (with Poland and Romania), France (with Poland), and Italy (with Albania) (Abella, 2006). Spain has concluded eight bilateral agreements: Morocco (1999), Colombia, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic (2001), Romania and Poland (2002) and Guinea-Bissau (2003) and Bulgaria (Abella, 2006).

Brain Drain:

Every country which can be characterized with relatively big outward movements of migrants experiences social “brain drain”. Bulgaria, as a country with constant emigration tendencies also faces the spell of brain-drainage. Numbers of intellectuals in the developing Eastern European countries (Bulgaria included) are more and more migrating to countries in which they will have better opportunities and better appreciation for their potential. The problem with intellectuals leaving their countries is not the most important factor to think about because developing your own potential at a better place is more than good for sciences. Problems occur, however, when those intellectuals decide to stay where they are and not go back to their come countries. The reasons for intellectuals are many and as diverse as the reasons everyone else who decides to migrate. Better opportunities for research, better payment or acceptance to innovative ideas are pull factors for migration, while career limitations, underestimation and declining prestige of certain spheres are very often main push factors for migration of intellectuals. According to a sociological study, the brain drain from Bulgaria is intensifying. The fields that are principally affected are the medical sciences, biology, chemistry, the technical sciences, and computer software (Vizi E., 1993). 70% of the scientists who leave their own countries have no intention of returning home. Bulgaria has already lost many scientists to the brain drain, and is still losing about 20 000 every year, mostly to Germany, Italy, France, and England (Vizi E., 1993).

Conclusion:

This report tried to show the tendencies at work in Bulgaria on both two sides of the migration process. To conclude with, the report reveals both the progress Bulgaria made on its migration policies and the inability of the country to deal with some emigration issues, the inability of the country to keep down those emigrating.

References:

Abella, M. (2006). Policies And Best Practices For Management Of Temporary Migration. International Symposium On International Migration And Development.

Lucas, R. E. (2005). International Migration Regimes and Economic Development. Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Martin, P. (2006). Managing Labor Migration: Temporary Worker Programmes For The 21st Century. International Symposium On International Migration And Development.

Poptodorova, E. (2004). Bulgaria’s Migration Policy. Mediterranean Quarterly.

Secretariat, U. N. (2002). International Migration from Countries with Economies in Transition : 1980-1999. Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

Vizi, E. S. (1993). Reversing the Brain Drain from Eastern European Countries: The “Push” and “Pull” Factors. !rwmozogy in society, 15, 101-109.