Bulgaria Fact
Bulgaria
Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Countries and Other Areas [Read More]
Bulgaria
Legal/Policy FrameworkThe Constitution provides for freedom of religion; however, the Government restricts this right in practice for some non-Orthodox religious groups. The Constitution designates Eastern Orthodox Christianity as the "traditional" religion. The Government provides financial support for the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as for several other religious communities perceived as holding historic places in society, such as the Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Jewish faiths, which also are considered "traditional." These groups generally benefit from a relatively high degree of governmental and societal tolerance. A new law on religion, known as the Confessions Act, was approved by Parliament on December 22, 2002. It entered into force 1 week later, replacing an outdated religion law dating back to 1949. Religious and human rights ... [Read More]
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Bulgaria
Poverty led to widespread school truancy because many children in Romani ghettos could not afford shoes or basic school supplies, and instead turned to begging, prostitution, and petty crime on the streets. A social milieu that often did not highly value formal education also was a contributing factor. Lack of effective government infrastructure and programs and economic and social factors combined to deprive Romani youths of an education. ... Although in previous years a few municipalities passed ordinances that aimed to curtail religious practices, the Government subsequently suspended these ordinances. However, the City Council in Burgas continued to refuse to register the local branch of Jehovah's Witnesses, despite the fact that they were registered by the national Government. ... [Read More]
V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G
Burundi is a source country for children trafficked for the purpose of forced child soldiering. The country is emerging from a 12-year civil war in which government and rebel forces used approximately 3,200 children in a variety of capacities, including as cooks, porters, spies, sex slaves, and combatants. There are reports that the government army and two former rebel groups — the CNDDFDD (Nkurunziza) and the CNDD (Nyangoma) — still have a small number of children in their ranks. While there were unconfirmed reports that these two rebel groups recruited boys in 2004, there were no reports that the army recruited child soldiers. The one rebel faction that remains outside the peace process, the PALOPEHUTU-FNL, continued to recruit and use child soldiers. The Government of Burundi does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, ... [Read More]
Bulgaria
A number of religious groups have complained that foreign-national missionaries and religious leaders experience difficulties in obtaining and renewing residence visas in the country; the issuance of residence visas appears to be subject to the whim of individual authorities. New amendments to the Law on Foreign Persons, which went into effect on May 1, 2001, have created problems for foreign national missionaries and religious workers in Bulgaria. The revised law has no visa category which explicitly applies to missionaries or religious workers, and rules for other categories of temporary residence visa (such as self-employed or business-owner) have been tightened in ways that seem to make it more difficult for religious workers to qualify. This problem has been exacerbated by the fact that key government institutions have not yet developed implementing regulations or procedures to handle their new responsibilities under the law, despite the fact that the new law is in force. ... [Read More]
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