Stories from Bulgaria: Bribing the police
Outside one of the three refugee camps on the outskirts of the Bulgarian capital Sofia, I met many refugees too frightened to speak openly with journalists. After some time, I managed to speak with one man and arranged to talk in some woods about a ten-minute walk from the camp under the conditions that his identity and nationality would remain anonymous. He requested to remain anonymous fearing consequences if he was seen openly talking to a journalist. This account cannot be independently verified.
You asked me how I entered Bulgaria? You want to know how I crossed from Turkey with my wife and three children? It’s not the usual way at all. You see all the single guys will jump the fence and try to cross Bulgaria without being caught. The police will 90% of the time catch them, beat them, steal from them and then they will be forced to give their finger prints and be processed here in Bulgaria.
When I came it was easier but a lot more expensive. I cannot jump a fence with my wife and children so I had to go the expensive way. My family and I just drove across the border with two other families. In total 11 of us came in a minivan with the driver who was a Bulgarian man. Technically the driver is a smuggler also but he is more of a middle man in this situation. I spoke with my smuggler in Istanbul and we arranged €1000 per person to be driven from Istanbul to Sofia. When I got to Sofia it was my choice to either join another smuggler group or register with the authorities in Sofia and begin an asylum application in Bulgaria.
Anyway late one night in November 2016 we got in the van and left Istanbul. We drove to the border post between Turkey and Bulgaria and waited for an hour or so. The driver got out and spoke to the guards on both sides of the fence, then when no one was around he jumped back in and drove us straight through. No stops, no checks, nothing.
The smuggler had charged us €1000 per person so with 11 of us that’s €11,000. I think it probably works out like both the Bulgarian and Turkish guards get let’s say €1000 each, two guards each side so that’s €4000. The driver probably gets €1000 and the smuggler keeps €6000. Of course I don’t know the real figures of who gets what but that is my guess.
The point is that if you pay enough money you can bribe your way into Europe. The EU can build fences but when a Bulgarian border guard is offered pretty much a months salary in cash he will happily turn a blind eye.
The driver took us to Sofia and just left us on the outskirts of the city. I tried to take my family to another smuggler but the guy didn’t answer the phone. It was very cold and wet that morning so my family and I were under a door way whilst I tried to reach the smuggler by phone. After an hour of trying to get through to the smuggler I thought it best if we go to the district in Sofia where more foreigners live. There we could blend in, eat something and work out the plan from there.
Unfortunately for us, as soon as we left the door way and walked up the street a police car saw us and they took us all down the police station. I told them I didn’t want refugee status in Bulgaria and pleaded with them to let us continue to Europe, I even offered money but it was useless. They forced my finger down and registered my whole family.
This camp has become a nightmare. The rooms are too small, the conditions are bad and if we argue then there is some form of punishment. The numbers of refugees in Bulgaria is only increasing each month because of the Dublin Agreement. Many, many deportees are being sent back to Bulgaria but they cannot claim asylum in Bulgaria.
This whole situation has become nothing more than warehousing people before deportation back to their home county. I say this because Bulgaria will not accept many asylum claims from countries other than Syria. You get three chances to have your case reviewed and then you are deported if unsuccessful. The truth it seems to me is, if you’re not Syrian then the chance you get asylum in Bulgaria is almost nothing. So what’s the options for refugees or deportees in Bulgaria, sit and wait doing nothing in Bulgaria? Or go back home where our lives are in danger?
September 2017
Thank you for reading. More refugee stories written from interviews conducted in Serbia you can also read:
- Stories From Serbia: A Bulgarian Experience, Along The Train Tracks
- Stories From Serbia: A Bulgarian Experience, Silent In Bulgaria
- Stories From Serbia: A Bulgarian Experience, The Harmanli Protester
- Stories From Serbia: A Bulgarian Experience, “Black from the beatings and white from the fear”
- Stories From Serbia: Libya To Serbia, “Those were the last words between us”
- Stories From Serbia: Crossing The Croatian Border, “My finger is a mess”
