Ildiko Otova State and policy failure concerning refugees in Bulgaria: Dynamics, trends and paradoxes Abstract The change of political regime in Bulgaria after 1989 drastically altered the coun- try’s migration picture. It can be asserted positively that the number of emigrat- ing individuals still exceeds the number of immigrants who have made their choice of Bulgaria as a country of reception. However, material provided by re- searchers, demonstrating that immigration is radically different from the classical phenomenon in western Europe, is at sharp variance with the manner in which the topic has been reflected in the domestic political and public discourse. This arti- cle examines the refugee phenomenon of Bulgaria against this context, seeking to highlight the failures of Bulgarian politics and policy development process. Po- liticians have ruthlessly exploited the topic in their desire to generate an ever- present sense of crisis, and crisis management, which not only covers up their own shortcomings but also acts to prevent the making of real policies, creating a gap into which NGOs have been forced to step. These, in turn, pose the real threat to national security insofar as Bulgaria remains unprepared to face subse- quent migration. Keywords: migration, refugees, reception system, integration policies, populism, political process Introduction The change of political regime in Bulgaria after 1989 brought changes also to the picture of migration. While the communist Bulgarian state stringently monitored those exiting and entering its territory, and controlled mobility even within its own national boundaries, emigration proved to be among the determining social phenom‐ ena in the years of democratic changes. One of the biggest problems facing migration research in Bulgaria is the absence of trustworthy data. Nevertheless, the number of individuals leaving Bulgaria still dramatically exceed the country’s number of immigrants: an Open Society study from 2017 indicates that Bulgarians residing abroad number about 1.1 million indi‐ viduals, with 6-700,000 having left the country for economic reasons (Angelov and Lessenski 2017). Such research material sharply varies with the manner in which mi‐ gration is reflected in the political discourse which not only utilises radically differ‐ ent data but also projects emigration as demographic collapse and even as national catastrophe. Consequently, it is largely perceived as such within public attitudes. Against this background, immigration appears insignificant and radically different from the phenomenon experienced in western Europe (Krasteva 2013). The total 2/2020 SEER Journal for Labour and Social Affairs in Eastern Europe p. 267 – 284 267 https://doi.org/10.5771/1435-2869-2020-2-267 Generiert durch IP '172.22.53.54', am 21.05.2022, 20:45:26. Das Erstellen und Weitergeben von Kopien dieses PDFs ist nicht zulässig.