Media freedom and freedom of association further deteriorated as authorities targeted journalists and critics and cracked down on anti-government protests. Authorities placed some Roma communities under mandatory COVID-19 quarantines and severely restricted their movement; officials engaged in...

22 Romani families are at imminent risk of forced eviction on 31 August. They are part of a total of 124 Romani households in Gurmen municipality that have received demolition orders. Bulgarian authorities have not yet committed to put in place key international human rights safeguards.

126 Romani families are at risk of forced eviction in Gurmen municipality, Bulgaria. Eight families have already been rendered homeless. Bulgarian authorities must put in place key international human rights safeguards and ensure that no one is forcibly evicted.

Following intense criticism of the authorities in Bulgaria for failing to adequately respond to the needs of refugees and migrants crossing the Bulgarian-Turkish border, there have been some improvements in the living conditions. Despite this, refugees and migrants in Bulgaria, many of whom are...

The Bulgarian authorities are failing to adequately respond to the needs of the increasing number of refugees and migrants crossing the Bulgarian-Turkish border, many of whom are fleeing the Syrian armed conflict. The asylum-seekers in Bulgaria are exposed to substandard living conditions...

The Bulgarian authorities are preparing to forcibly return Said Kadzoev to the Russian Federation where he would be at serious risk of torture and other ill-treatment. If he is forcibly returned, Bulgaria will be violating its obligations under international human rights law which expressly...

Varna district court’s 12 April ruling that Annadurdy Khadzhiev should not be extradited to Turkmenistan was confirmed by Varna appeal court on 3 May.

The Bulgarian authorities have received an extradition request from Turkmenistan for Annadurdy Khadzhiev, aged 49, a leader of Turkmenistan’s exiled opposition Watan (Fatherland) Party, who fled to Bulgaria in 2001. He is now in danger of forcible return to Turkmenistan, where he would be at...

Mentally disabled women are being held at a state institution in the village of Sanadinovo in conditions that amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Some inmates are being held in a cage, because the staff claim that “they had misbehaved”. Independent experts have described conditions in...