The updated AIDA Country Report on Bulgaria provides a detailed overview of legislative and practice-related developments in asylum procedures, reception conditions, detention of asylum applicants and content of international protection in 2025. It is accompanied by an annex providing an overview of temporary protection.
A number of key developments drawn from the overview of the main changes that have taken place since the publication of the update on 2024 are set out below.
National context
- Political developments: Bulgaria’s prolonged political instability continued throughout 2025. A new coalition government was formed in January but it collapsed in December following mass protests. The political turmoil had a significant impact on the asylum system, including the replacement in June 2025 of the leadership of the State Agency for Refugees (SAR) with politically appointed figures linked to previous periods of severe deterioration in reception conditions.
- Implementation of the Pact: Preparations for the implementation of the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum largely stalled during 2025. Key legislative reforms foreseen under the national implementation plan, including the adoption of a new law on asylum and refugees, and amendments relating to screening and detention procedures, were not completed within the planned timeframe. A draft asylum law published for public consultation in January 2026 was widely criticised by stakeholders for failing to establish even the minimum procedural safeguards required under the Pact.
(A) International protection
Asylum procedure
- Key statistics: Bulgaria registered just 3,895 asylum applications in 2025. This represented a 68% decrease from the previous year (12,250 applications) following intensified border controls linked to Bulgaria’s full accession to the Schengen Area and broader regional developments, including mass deportations of Afghan nationals from Iran and developments in the political situation in Syria. The SAR issued 7,090 decisions which resulted in the granting of refugee status to 62 applicants and subsidiary protection to 897 others, while 3,703 applications were rejected and 2,428 procedures were discontinued, mainly due to absconding. There overall recognition rate fell sharply to 20% (61% in 2024) while the rejection rate in decisions on the merits was 80%.
- Access to the territory: Intensified border controls were introduced following Bulgaria’s full Schengen accession on 1 January 2025, including the deployment of additional border police officers, European border and coast guard (Frontex) personnel, drones and new surveillance equipment along the border with Türkiye. These measures likely contributed to a 64% decrease in the number of reported arrivals compared to 2024 and a 72% decrease in the number of prevented irregular entries. However, monitoring organisations continued to report widespread pushback practices at the Bulgaria-Türkiye border.
- Access to the procedure: Access to the asylum procedure at the border remained severely restricted in 2025. Less than 2% of people who were apprehended at the border with Türkiye obtained direct access to registration and accommodation in reception centres without first being detained in deportation centres. At the same time, Bulgaria maintained improved practices for “self-reported” asylum applicants who reached reception centres independently, with only four applicants affected by unlawful detention prior to registration.
- Absconding and recognition rates: The absconding rate in 2025 was 34% (39% in 2024). The recognition rate for Syrian applicants decreased significantly to 36% (81% in 2024) while the recognition rate for Afghan applicants fell to just 4% (10% in 2024).
- Legal aid: Access to legal aid further deteriorated in 2025 following funding cuts linked to the United Nations’ financial crisis. This left asylum applicants with extremely limited access to legal representation or support in appeals procedures. The Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, which had long been the principal provider of free legal assistance to asylum applicants, closed its legal reception offices on 1 January 2026.
Reception conditions
- Reception centres: Reception conditions continued to deteriorate in 2025. Infrastructure deficiencies, poor sanitation, overcrowding, inadequate nutrition and vermin infestations remained widespread in reception centres. Access to healthcare also remained limited due to severe shortages of medical personnel and insufficient funding for medical treatment or medicines. Although additional budgetary resources were allocated to the SAR in 2025, living conditions in centres largely remained below adequate standards. In addition, serious concerns regarding safety and security persisted due to the presence during night hours of smugglers, drug dealers and sex workers. Following years of criticism, responsibility for security in the centres was transferred from private security companies to the national police in October 2025.
- Unaccompanied children: The number of unaccompanied children seeking protection in Bulgaria decreased by 78% in 2025. Safe zones for unaccompanied children with a combined capacity of 386 places operated in the reception centres in Sofia and Harmanli. Although this was sufficient to accommodate all new arrivals, it was only the case due to a continued high absconding rate (82%).
- Access to benefits and employment: Monthly financial allowances for asylum applicants, which had been suspended since 2015, were reinstated in July 2025 at a rate of BGN 20 and increased to BGN 30 in August. Asylum applicants continued to face major barriers in accessing social support and employment despite having access to the labour market after three months. 847 work permits were issued to asylum applicants and beneficiaries of international protection in 2025.
Detention of asylum applicants
- Duration of detention: The average duration of detention in pre-removal centres remained relatively short in 2025 (three working days / five calendar days) and 87% of asylum applicants were released within the statutory deadline. However, Bulgaria resumed its previously criticised practice of registering asylum applicants in detention centres and applied it in one case in 2025. The average duration of detention in closed reception centres increased to 89 days (86 days in 2024).
Content of international protection
- Civil registration and identity documents: Amendments introduced in late 2024 allowed refugees and subsidiary protection holders without a domicile address to register using a municipal service address. By the end of 2025, 13,130 beneficiaries had received identity documents via this arrangement.
- Integration: Bulgaria’s “zero integration” policy of providing no dedicated integration measures, programmes or funding for beneficiaries of international protection was maintained in 2025. Although the government adopted a programme for the integration of displaced people from Ukraine in May, the measures primarily focused on coordination between institutions rather than providing substantive support for housing, employment or social inclusion.
(B) Temporary protection
- Statistics: 22,333 people were registered under the temporary protection scheme in 2025. As of 31 December 2025, Bulgaria had registered 223,817 individuals under temporary protection: 107,422 women, 52,535 men and 63,271 children (589 unaccompanied children).
- Housing and access to education: 2,840 vulnerable temporary protection beneficiaries were being accommodated under state-supported humanitarian aid programmes at the end of 2025. In the 2025/2026 academic year, 1,307 children with temporary protection status were enrolled in nurseries and 5,379 students were enrolled in Bulgarian schools.
The full report is available here and the annex on temporary protection is available here.
For more information about the AIDA database or to read other AIDA reports, please visit the AIDA website.