ANSBACH ATTACKER STAYED IN BULGARIA FOR ABOUT 8 MONTHS

The 27 year old Syrian man who blew himself up and injured 15 people in Ansbach,Germany, was due to be deported to Bulgaria, the German authorities said on 25th of July.

The Syrian man stayed in Bulgaria for 8 months and was granted humanitarian status, the Chief Secretary of Bulgaria’s Ministry of Interior said. At the end of 2014, the German authorities did not send the Syrian back to Bulgaria, the Bulgarian State Agency for Refugees specified.

The 27 year old Syrian man entered Bulgaria in the autumn of 2013. He applied for a status, submitted a request for protection. The refugee agency grants two types of status, humanitarian and refugee status. Following the relevant procedure, the Bulgarian State Agency for Refugees granted him humanitarian status, which gave him right to move freely in the territory of Bulgaria and the European Union.

Both the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior and the refugee agency said the 27 year old Syrian stayed in Bulgaria until the middle of 2014. He was accommodated in a registration –reception centre in Sofia. In 2014, the Bulgarian authorities were notified by the German authorities that the Syrian requested a status in Germany as well.

Correspondence was exchanged between the two countries. It becomes clear that the German authorities wanted to send the refugee back to Bulgaria in compliance with the provisions of the Dublin agreement, according to which the refugees are sent back to the member state where they first entered the EU.

Petya Parvanova, the Head of Bulgaria’s State Agency for Refugees has said that the Bulgarian authorities informed the German authorities that the person had already been granted a status and therefore did not fall into the category of persons who are subject to return under the Dublin Agreement. “ After that the refugee agency has not received any further communication in relation to the person in question,” she added. “Any person with humanitarian status has the right to move freely in the EU. The person can be returned under a readmission agreement if considered appropriate by the country where the person settled. But the German authorities asked if the person could be returned to Bulgaria under the Dublin agreement, for which we have no legal grounds. We replied accordingly and have received nothing further,” she explained.

Georgi Kostov, the Chief Secretary of the MoI has said that since September 2014, the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior have not received anything further from the German authorities regarding the person in question. “ The readmission procedure is a legal procedure. We have a readmission agreement with Germany, it is possible to be applied, it is possible for the refugee to be returned to the country which granted the humanitarian status. This however was not requested,” he said.

photo:BTA