Claire Hamlisch is American, but I wasn't convinced until she told me. A childhood in Italy and a 30-year career with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has blessed this well-spoken woman with an accent all her own.  It is a voice that storytells, educates and beckons with the cadence of your favourite blues melody and the texture of an experienced humanitarian worker.

A refugee's broad definition includes "anyone who has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a specific social group or political opinion."  The goal of the UNHCR is to protect the rights of refugees by helping them obtain the right to seek asylum in foreign countries if necessary, and be able to return home voluntarily, if desired.

As the UNHCR representative in Bulgaria, Claire works very closely with the state agency for refugees, the Bulgarian Red Cross, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, CARITAS, and many other organisations interested in helping refugees. She not only helps channel funds, but draws on past refugee experiences to make recommendations to other agencies.  One difficulty Claire now faces is that Bulgaria seeks to follow EU refugee standards and sometimes these differ from the previous Bulgarian standards (based on international standards).  For example, while Bulgarian standards allow family reunification to include grandparents, EU standards allow only nuclear members.

"Because the grandparents are often the decision makers of a family," Claire explains, "refugees often feel lost without them."

She admits that it's a tough job. "To combine the legal, social and human aspects of life and determine what's best for the government, the host family and the individual refugee means our decisions are fraught with impact."  She says one must remain human, keep a sense of humour and learn to maintain one's own health and sanity to be the best resource for refugees. Because "hardship posts" do not allow a spouse or children to accompany UNHCR employees, Claire says UNHCR has forced many people, especially woman, to choose between career and family.  Currently, Claire's husband is living and working in Switzerland.

But then, there are moments when it's all worth the effort.

Claire's eyes twinkle immediately when telling a story about the Vietnamese "boat people" and a woman from the Philippines who offered to breastfeed a Vietnamese baby because its  mother, due to the refugee trauma, had stopped producing milk.  She also remembers the thrill of working with the 36 000 Rwandan refugees who had recently been granted citizenship by Tanzania's leader, Julius Nyerere.

Her work has taken her from the UNHCR headquarters in Geneva to Zimbabwe, Thailand, Tanzania, Swaziland (where she met her husband), the Philippines, Zambia and now Bulgaria.  She was already familiar with central Europe because of previous experience as a UNHCR desk officer, co-ordinating funding, programmes and best practices for Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, the Czech republic, Slovenia and Slovakia.  Claire fondly recalls her first visit to Bulgaria on the December 12, 1998.

"It was the day that a UN colleague, Vincent Cochetel, was released from over 300 days of captivity in Vladikavkaz, Russian Federation," she explains.  "Because of this I came to Bulgaria smiling and full of joy."

Claire arrived for her current post in July of 2005, just in time to witness the devastation of Bulgaria's floods.  She says this type of tragedy demonstrates one of the hardest parts about her job. While the UNHCR is a relief agency, funds are limited and designated only for refugee crises.  "It was hard to know that Bulgarians were in need in refugee-like situations, displaced from their homes and communities, we simply couldn't help everyone."

But this world traveller has found quite a gem in Bulgaria, explaining that she never expected the country to feel so Mediterranean.  She adores the cafe and restaurant culture of Bulgaria's summer season, relishing the Bulgarian custom of long, drawn out meals, where one truly enjoys salad, wine and cheese. She's also taken full advantage of Sofia's inexpensive cultural offerings, frequently attending both the opera and ballet.  Most of all, however, Claire appreciates the horo (the traditional Bulgarian dance).

"To live is to dance," she insists.  Wherever her location, she always makes an effort to learn about such traditions.  As a child in Italy, it was the Tarantella, in Massachusets the Polka and in Tanzania, the haunting and hip-swaying Congolese beat.  Now, Claire is excited to begin Tango lessons and learn the Bulgarian folk dances.  She feels that dancing brings people together with an unspoken energy that tackles language and cultural barriers.

Claire will likely be at this UNHCR post until 2009.  "I wish all the very best for EU accession and I ask the people and government of Bulgaria to take as many refugees as they can with them into the union."