A Syrian refugee holds a baby in a refugee camp in the town of Harmanli, southeast of Sofia (Photo credit: Nikolay Doychinov/AFP)
Since June 2013, the number of refugees in Bulgaria has reached over 10,000. Most of these people have fled the horrors of war in Syria, about 2,000 km south of Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital city. Human rights organizations expect another 11,000 to reach the Bulgarian-Turkish border in the next year.
Beyond specific incidents, like the attack against Victoria, nationalist factions have used growing social tensions and the state’s lack of response to violent crime against immigrants/refugees to increase their power and influence in the country.
There are plans to have a 3-meter high wall on the border with Turkey ready by February, pushing refugees and migrants toward even more dangerous routes. Against this backdrop, nationalists in Bulgaria will likely become stronger as they exploit the fears of an improvished population to foment xenophobia.
