On October 24, 2019 the Foundation for Access to Rights - FAR, in partnership with the Center for Legal Aid - Voice in Bulgaria, launched a two-year project ACF/39 "Effective legal aid for refugees and migrants in Bulgaria." Through the project ACF/729 "Effective legal aid for refugees and migrants in Bulgaria - continuation", the activities of this project have been extended for another two years, starting from November 1, 2021, together with our new second partner Foundation "Mission wings".
The project "Effective legal aid for refugees and migrants in Bulgaria - continuаtion" is implemented with the financial support of the Active Citizens Fund Bulgaria in the amount of 178,000 euros provided by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Financial Mechanism
ACTIVITIES
Provision of legal aid
in the form of legal consultations in the offices of FAR and CLA - Voice in Bulgaria, as well as in the Special Homes for Temporary Accommodation of Foreigners (SCTAF) and representation of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants before administrative and judicial authorities.
Information sessions
with persons accommodated in the closed centers of the Ministry of Interior (SCTAF) in Sofia (Busmantsi district) and Lyubimets with accommodated persons, cundcted in their their language and explaining their rights and obligations, and the main legal provisions in the areas of asylum and migration that affect them
Advocacy and communication campaigns for:
- improving the quality of the procedure for international protection in accordance with the requirements of the European and international law;
- establishing working mechanisms for access to justice in the event of human rights violations (eg, push-backs and border violence);
- access to judicial control against detention;
- in practice and fair access to the labor market, social systems, education and healthcare, etc.
Preparation of expert psycological statements
by the team of the second project partner - Mission Wings Foundation and psychological counseling for asylum seekers, refugees and migrants who have been identified as belonging to a vulnerable group, in order to ensure their administrative or judicial proceedings with additional evidence.
Our goal is to contribute to the achievement of individual results in respecting the human rights of refugees and migrants in Bulgaria, as well as to change the level of institutional and judicial practices and legislation.
TEAM
In this project, FAR's team includes:
VALERIA ILAREVA - coordinator and lawyer
MAGDALENA MITEVA - lawyer
DIANA KAMENOVA - lawyer
SOFIYA RAZBOYNIKOVA - lawyer
VALERY PETROV - lawyer
KALINA SLAVOVA - legal assistant
On the FAR's Facebook page you can see a short video from the official presentation of the project, which took place on December 18, 2019. It best describes the love, unity and inspiration on which the project rests. We believe that achieving the goals of this project will be another step forward in our quest to make the world we live in fairer and better.
On this link you can learn more about the online expert meeting on "Current problems, challenges and observations in our work with refugees and migrants in Bulgaria - expert meeting" that took place on 12.11.2020. Here is the video recording:
On October 20, 2021. we also held our closing event under the ACF / 39 project, in which we took stock of the achievements in the first two years of the project. Here is the recording of this event:
For two years, the project produced articles on countries of origin and personal stories of asylum seekers in Bulgaria. Some of the materials have been collected in a special edition, which we are happy to share with you. To see the storybook click on the picture below.
In the campaign “ALMOST HERE - for secure access to protection for refugees" was held a special VR event in partnership with the experts from the production organization LENS2LENS.
The project ACF/39 "Effective legal aid for refugees and migrants in Bulgaria" is implemented with financial support in the amount of EUR 157,395 provided by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Financial Mechanism. The main goal of the project "Effective Legal Aid for refugees and migrants in Bulgaria" is to contribute to the observance of the human rights of refugees and migrants in Bulgaria.
Project ACF / 729 "Effective Legal Aid for Refugees and Migrants in Bulgaria - continuation" is implemented with the financial support of 178,000 euros provided by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway under the EEA Financial Mechanism. The main goal of the project "Effective legal aid for refugees and migrants in Bulgaria - continuation" is to help respect human rights and change institutional and judicial practices and legislation by providing legal aid (consultations, representation before administrative and judicial bodies, experts psychological opinions) to asylum seekers, refugees and migrants and through advocacy for staff working with them and judges.
All responsibility for the content is held by the performers and under no circumstances cannot be assumed that it reflects an official opinion of the FM of the EEA and the Operator of the Фонд Активни граждани България/Active Citizens Fund Bulgaria.
