The activities of the Bureau for information and services for third country nationals are of interest not only to the users of the Bureau but also to all citizens of the capital. However, one of them, namely “Awards for responsible employers of refugees and migrants” was the occasion for the visit of representatives of the organizers and the awarded in BNR radio Sofia.

The reason is the significance of the event, as it awards the employers for their contribution to the successful integration of refugees and migrants, as well as to the economic growth of Sofia.

“Our goal is to promote the good example, because the employers of migrants and refugees do not simply give a job and a salary, they lend a hand, encourage the diversity and make the integration complete,” shared Sanya Raeva from Sofia Development Association.

The listeners learned more about the process of setting up the Bureau and the wide range of services it offers in 5 languages in the field of labor market access, healthcare, legal aid, housing support, education, as well as psychological and social assistance. SDA also shared the background of the Awards initiative and the upcoming activities related to the integration of third-country nationals.

Moreover, the audience got acquainted with the experience of the company Orthotech Ltd., which has been working with boys from Afghanistan for 4 months now and it was awarded in the category “combining work and study” because it provides employees with the opportunity to combine work with Bulgarian language courses.

“There is positive attitude from both the side of the newcomers and the other colleagues. They are decent boys and everything is going very smoothly,” told Georgi Gyurov from Orthotech.

In addition to the recognition for the promotion of good practices for professional development of everyone, the five awarded companies received souvenirs made by disadvantaged women and youth at the social enterprise Caritas Sofia, as well as cards for plays at the Theatre “Vazrazhdane”.

The idea of the organizers of the Awards Sofia Development Association, Sofia Municipality, Caritas – Sofia and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is to hold the initiative annually in the future and to expand it more and more.

You may here the full conversation HERE.

The Bureau is established in the framework of #CONNECTION project. It is the result of the combined efforts, resources and expertise of Sofia Municipality, Sofia Development Association, the Bulgarian Red Cross, “Vazrazhdane” Markets, UNHCR and over 13 NGOs.

 CONNECTION project: CONNEcting Cities Towards Integration action, and UMN project are co-funded by the European Union’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund.