Detainees in the State Agency of Refugees (SAR) section in Busmantsi/Sofia protested today against the new visiting and supply regulations. The new rule limits visitors to eight in a section of more than twenty-six people. This prevents many prisoners from seeing their friends and relatives. The administration of the Busmantsi detention center has also banned the daily bringing of packages and has limited the packages allowed during visiting times. The detainees refused for a while to enter their rooms as a protest. In former times there were reports by NGOs published denouncing verbal abuse, violence and poor health conditions in the detention center.
The section of the SAR in Busmantsi contains 30 places, while the pre-removal area contains 400 places, which were occupied by 494 by the end of the year of 2o22. In mid- 2023, Bulgaria’s pre-removal detention centers were again close to reaching their maximum capacity. The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) visited Bulgaria by the end of September 2024. The objective of the visit was to assess the implementation of recommendations concerning the treatment and conditions of detention of foreign nationals deprived of their liberty pursuant to aliens legislation, which “related to the inadequate material conditions, activities and health care as well as lack of information on rights and access to interpretation“. Some days later, the protest in the detention center was followed by a protest of Human Rights Activists, which took place in front of the detention center against the accommodation conditions.