A Commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the signing of the agreement between the Republic of Bulgaria and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is to be held on December 10, at the Sveta Sofia Hall, 1 Battenberg, from 4pm to 6pm, followed by a reception from pm to 8pm. All are welcome!

Under the Patronage of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, UNHCR will acknowledge with appreciation Bulgaria's significant progress and achievements during the past 10 years in the development of the national refugee system.

Special thanks will be given to the Prime Minister of the Republic, represented by Mr. Bill Drysdale, adviser in the Prime Minister's office, as moderator of this historic session.

UNHCR, in co-operation with partners has invited more than 1400 people from Bulgaria and abroad to commemorate the tenth anniversary with a programme including the presentations of the "Award of Excellence in Refugee Journalism", "Award of the UN High Commissioner for Empowerment of refugee women and organisations" to the President of the Council of Refugee Women of Bulgaria and the "Award for Contributions to Tolerance towards minorities" to the University of Shumen.

The spirit of the events on December 10 will be one of remembrance. The events will refresh memories of the progress made by Bulgaria in the past 10 years in developing the national asylum system. The past 10 years have brought significant challenges for the Republic of Bulgaria during its transition from a centralised to a market economy on the one hand, and to a candidate EU member state on the other.

The challenges to any national asylum system, whether it is well developed or in the process of developing, are significant anywhere in the world. Migration pressures; mixed population flows; the fact that more money can and is being made through human trafficking than with other lawful activities; and more recently, September 11, 2001 and the ensuing anti-terrorist measures, including the developments in Afghanistan and Iraq, represent challenges not just for Bulgaria.

Compared to other asylum countries the "burden" of asylum seekers and refugees has been relatively small. Among the 10 Central European Countries, where a total of 110 000 refugees were registered between 1999 and 2001, only five per cent of those refugees were in Bulgaria. In fact, compared to the first six months of 2002, there has been about a 30 per cent decrease of asylum applicants in Bulgaria in 2003, as contrasted with a decrease of about 16 per cent in 27 industrialised countries in the world.

All three branches of Government, the executive, legislative and judicial branches, have made significant contributions in designing the refugee policy and in implementing it under the leadership of the State Agency of Refugees, under the Council of Ministers. They adopted the first and the second refugee law in 1999 and 2002, and have upheld judicial protection standards in the appeal instances of the Supreme Administrative Court and in the Sofia City Court.

As also indicated in recent EU reports the following matters still need work - Increasing the capacity of the reception centres for asylum seekers and refugees; further improving the administrative capacity of the State Agency for Refugees; accelerating the screening procedures and improving the conditions for the integration of refugees; and preparing the infrastructure to ensure the full implementation of the Regulations relating to EURODAC and Dublin II upon accession.

In UNHCR's view, Bulgaria has made significant progress in developing the national asylum system. The closure of Chapter 24 on Justice and Home Affairs, especially relating to the asylum chapter is good news that has been highlighted by the European Commission on several occasions. UNHCR is particularly grateful also to the Judicial Branch of government for the more than 2,000 cases heard by the Supreme Administrative Court since 1995, with a significant amount of precedent setting rulings, and the some 350 cases already received by the Sofia City Court under the new law since December 2002, also with important precedent setting rulings.

This commemoration also includes the 7th UNHCR Round Table on Bulgaria's EU Accession, European Harmonisation and International Refugee Protection, which follows the first through sixth round tables most of which the National Assembly has been kindly hosting, and which UNHCR herewith wishes to acknowledge with thanks.

UNHCR Representation in Bulgaria expresses gratitude and congratulates all its implementing partners, institutions and individuals involved in the work with refugees, for dedicated work resulting in significant progress and achievements during the past 10 years of development of Bulgarian national refugee system.