With foreign tourists on the way, tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees are having to leave the hotels they were placed in and find alternative temporary homes.

 

Ukrainian Refugees Face Eviction from Bulgarian Hotels

People demonstrate in front of the Russian embassy in Sofia on 24 February in support of Ukraine. Photo: EPA-EFE/VASSIL DONEV

Over 56,000 refugees from Ukraine are currently being hosted in Bulgaria and are now being moved to different state-owned bases.

The figure was quoted on Friday by Minister of Tourism Hristo Prodanov, who is engaged with the process, since many of the refugees were temporarily staying in out-of-season hotels that are now needed for the looming tourist season. 

“Whether the Ukrainians will stay in these locations or would want to go back [home] due to a possible calming of the war situation is difficult to predict,” the Minister of Transport, Hristo Prodanov, also a Bulgarian Socialist Party member, said.

We should have in mind that there will be an increasing number of Ukrainians who will find work in our country and will not need the program”, he added.

In April, Prodanov called for the cancellation of benefits to the Ukrainian refugees, saying: “Three months of solidarity and support are enough, these people should now work and find a place to live like everyone else.”

Since Russia’s war in Ukraine started, refugees who couldn’t find accommodation in the bigger cities were settled temporarily in hotels in Black Sea resorts, where managers gave out rooms for free and got compensation from the state.

However, many hotels were disappointed by the subsidies of 40 lev per refugee, roughly 20 euros, which recently dropped to 15 lev, or 7.67 euros.

Meanwhile, the summer tourism season is starting and the refugees have to leave the hotel rooms because of upcoming reservations. 

By May 31, all refugees who had not found their own place to stay were to be transferred to state-owned and rarely-used complexes and military bases.

But the process has been marred by logistical issues and slow responses by the state. “Many people have no idea what will happen to them,” activist Svetlozara Koleva from Varna, the biggest Bulgarian town on the Black Sea, told BIRN’s latest analysis on the situation. 

Varna is the one most affected resorts by the refugee wave. “This made many people return to Ukraine or go to Romania, where they seem to be finding jobs more easily,” Koleva said.

On May 30, Deputy PM Kalina Konstantinova criticised the refugees for making increasing demands, and later PM Kiril Petkov referenced the refugees’ hotel stay as a “luxurious experience” that the government can’t provide endlessly.

On June 2, Konstantinova apologised to all “Bulgarians and Ukrainians who felt offended by my words”. 

Shortly after it began to accept Ukrainians on Tuesday and Wednesday, the refugee camp in the town of Elhovo was already closing its doors, and all new arrivals were redirected once again to other locations, mainly around the seaside.

The current strategy involves placement in state-owned vacation complexes and military bases. According to the State Agency for Refugees, a base near the Sunny Beach resort area has already welcomed 500 refugees. People have also been transferred to buildings near the winter resorts of Pamporovo and Borovetz. 

There have been contradictory reports on the state of these buildings. Local media have reported refugees feeling disappointed by poor living conditions, others have expressed gratitude. The official line is that all bases offer at least basic living conditions. 

Source link: balkaninsight.com