29/05/2026
📍IOM Bulgaria Brings Civic Orientation to Refugees from Ukraine in Plovdiv
📜Plovdiv has been a meeting point of peoples for as long as there have been cities — often described as Europe's oldest continuously inhabited, it has absorbed Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, and Bulgarians into a single living fabric.
🇺🇦This week it welcomed a new community of newcomers. On 28 May, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Bulgaria held its first Civic Orientation Course in the city for refugees from Ukraine, marking an early milestone for the Migrant Resource and Information Centre IOM recently opened there.
For participants who fled the war, the session offered a practical map of life in Bulgaria:
⚖️ Rights and responsibilities of citizens and migrants
🏥 Access to healthcare, education, transport, and social services
📋 Residence permits and administrative procedures
🕊️ Social norms, equality, and the prevention of violence
🏛️ Bulgaria's history, culture, and traditions
As often happens, the group legal consultation drew the most energy — and the questions turned toward the future. Many participants wanted to know what would become of their status if the war ends, and whether, and how, they might move toward a more settled, long-term status in Bulgaria.
IOM's legal expert addressed the differences between temporary protection and Bulgaria's longer-term residence options, alongside questions on employment, documentation, and access to services.
As one of IOM Bulgaria's main tools for promoting social inclusion and access to reliable information, these civic orientation sessions aim to offer people what is hardest to find when everything is unfamiliar: a clear sense of where to turn.
🇪🇺The civic orientation trainings are implemented within the framework of the project "Migrant Information Centres – Support to social inclusion of migrants in Bulgaria," funded under the National AMIF Programme 2021–2027, with the financial support of the European Union .
