site.btaMPs Updated on Ukrainian Refugees Situation

More than 133,000 refugees  have entered Bulgaria since the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, and a little over 61,000 of them remain in this country, State Agency for Refugees (SAR) Chair Mariana Tosheva told the National Assembly Committee on Human Rights, Religion and Citizens' Complaints on Thursday, updating the MPs on the situation by March 31.

Some 4,000 refugees daily register for temporary protection, and their total already approximates 27,000, Tosheva pointed out. Temporary protection entitles recipients to free access to emergency medical services, the labour market and other opportunities. The Government targets increasing the capacity for such registrations to 9,000 daily, the SAR head said.

Unaccompanied minors account for 41 per cent of the refugees. About 200 of them have received temporary protection status.

In Bulgaria, people fleeing the war in Ukraine are accommodated at 72 locations in 52 settlements countrywide. Nearly 40,000 are put up in hotels, but their free stay there will be possible until May 31. After that, they will be able to use 353 facilities run by various institutions all over the country with a total of 50,000 beds, which are being inspected for this purpose, Tosheva specified.