Upon arrival in the country, refugees and migrants undergo a complex process of social adaptation, which can end up either with integration or with social exclusion. Refugees carry with them the trauma of forced migration and loss and migrants are faced with the challenge to create a new home for themselves in the country. However, both carry the power of survivors! At the Foundation for Access to Rights – FAR we believe that refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants have the right to receive information as a key factor for their active inclusion in society and empowerment, which balances their disadvantaged position. Therefore, we created the online platform Refugeelight.bg, taking into account the crucial role of modern communication technologies.
Refugeelight.bg is a self-help tool for refugees and migrants with up-to-date accessible information. This site offers you basic step-by-step instructions on how to challenge various everyday obstacles in 9 different languages from the moment you, as an asylum seeker or a migrant, set foot onto Bulgarian soil. Even the most complex judicial procedures are explained in understandable language so that the content can be easily absorbed by all users.
And of course, there is more, we have developed an interactive services map that provides detailed contact information about service providers such as hospitals, lawyers and language centres, which makes them one click away from being reached.
As of October 2023, we also have a section for employers and job seekers, through which we can help refugees find a job in the country.
If all of this is not enough, you can always click on the Request Assistance module and write to our team about your problem!
OUR MISSION
We strive to empower and support asylum seekers, refugees and migrants along their life journey in Bulgaria and offer them guidance and a ray of hope.
REFUGEELIGHT.BG
Refugeelight.bg is a proud heir of the Refugeelife.bg and Refugee.info-Bulgaria platforms. In 2017, the International Rescue Committee joined forces with the Foundation for Access to Rights – FAR as a local partner to draft the content of the Bulgarian section at Refugee.info and to liaise with service providers in the country. However, at the end of 2018, Refugee.Info ceased the update of the Bulgaria-related content and service map and decided to take down all the materials from its platforms and hand them over to FAR. Eager to develop the positive results, achieved by Refugee.info, the idea for Refugeelife.bg was born and this was how our story began. Initially, the platform targeted only refugees and asylum seekers. As the need grew with time, so did we and extended the platform’s target audience to all migrants, who are trying to build their lives in Bulgaria.
MEET OUR TEAM
The Foundation for Access to Rights – FAR has solid expertise and experience in providing legal aid to asylum-seekers, refugees and migrants in Bulgaria and thus has valuable practical insight in the field.
Valeria Ilareva is our head lawyer and the founder of FAR who has more than 20 years of experience in the field of migration and asylum law. She is the mastermind behind Refugeelight.bg.
Magdalena Miteva is our Senior Content Editor and Digital engagement officer who moderates the preparation of articles and updates the platform’s content, making sure that the content is legally accurate and easy to understand.
Nadya Denkova is our Service and Employment Mapping Officer who liaises with the service providers and updates the interactive map.
Our Digital Communications Liaison Team is at your disposal if you follow our social media.
Our Social Media Officer Ildiko Otova prepares short and engaging posts for you summarizing our content and bringing it closer to you.
If you want to ask your questions and communicate in your own language i.e. Ukrainian, Russian, Arabic, Farsi, Pashto or English, our Digital Communications Liaison Experts are one message away.
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL…
We also embrace as part of our team the refugees and migrants who shape our content, the volunteers, the writers, the journalists, the IT personnel and many others who make it all happen and give the platform an attractive and dynamic vision.
Enjoy Refugeelight.Bg and let us know your feedback!