The asylum status of European Roma is a contentious issue, and has been the topic of particular discussion in Canada, where Conservatives have been pressing for countries to be designated ‘safe’, meaning Roma refugees from those countries can have their claims more easily rejected. Three EU countries, Bulgaria, Latvia and Romania, are thought unlikely to be easily designated ‘safe’ because a high proportions of claims for asylum from those countries have been successful.
This fact chimes with a couple of recent news stories from Bulgaria. There is a dispute as to whether an attempt by the Bulgarian authorities to extradite a Roma activist, Toma Nikolaev Mladenov, is valid. The case hinges over whether or not he has completed his prison sentence for a public order offence:
“I wish to seek asylum in Britain,” Nikolaev said after yesterday’s hearing. “It’s just too dangerous in Bulgaria for people like me who are fighting for full representation for
Roma.”
There are certainly some grounds for concern. A few days ago another Bulgarian Roma activist was critically injured after the Euroroma headquarters in the town of Sandanski was hit by a bomb blast. Although the Bulgarian spokesman’s gloss on the incident –
But Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov was already claiming on the day of the blast that politics was not involved. He said it was a “purelycriminal act” and was confident regional police commissar Georgi Kostov would capture those responsible within a week.
– seems unconvincing, an isolated attack on a group would not seem to give its members the right to asylum elsewhere. But Bulgarian Roma are reporting more sinister and systemic discrimination, arguing that the police are finding reasons to put Roma activists in jail. Although it is difficult to glean a true picture of life for the Roma in Bulgaria from a few web sites and stories, and some would of course argue that their problems are partly self-created, it is still telling that 67% of claims from Bulgarians seeking asylum in Canada last year were successful.