About Us | Refugeelight.BG

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!

Note:
The Refugeelight.bg platform is funded by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and the International Rescue Committee (IRC). However, UNHCR and IRC bear no responsibility for the content hosted on Refugeelight.bg, as it is solely operated by the Foundation for Access to Right (FAR). It is important to note that FAR prepares information in both English and Bulgarian, but it does not guarantee the quality of translations into other languages.

This platform aims to provide information to asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants in Bulgaria. It should not be considered exhaustive and does not substitute the need for legal advice or consultation with experts in the field. The platform's content was last comprehensively updated in 2023, with individual articles receiving updates marked with their respective dates.

All copyrights and other elements considered intellectual property that are published at Refugeelight.bg are reserved by the Foundation for Access to Rights- FAR. You are not allowed to copy, reproduce, republish, modify, compile, adapt, download, distribute or use in public any part of Refugeelight.bg in any way for commercial purposes without the express written agreement of FAR.

You may use the content of Refugeelight.bg for personal and non-commercial purposes, including when publishing content on the Internet, provided that you include a link/reference to the relevant page of Refugeelight.bg on which the quoted content is published. If any changes are made, they must be indicated when quoting.

Gratitude

The Foundation for Access to Rights expresses its deepest gratitude to the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the European Programme for Migration and Integration (EPIM), the Sigrid Rausing Trust and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for the support in establishing and maintaining this platform over the years.