Dokument #1115622
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Autor)
There is no information currently available
to the DIRB which would indicate that there is a law making it
illegal to name children by Macedonian names. According to Helsinki
Watch, on 29 December 1989, after the fall of the Communist
government, "the [new] government announced that everyone in
Bulgaria would be able to choose his or her name, religion, and
language freely" 12 Feb. 1991). Information on the implementation
of and restrictions on this policy is available in the IRBDC Issue
Paper Bulgaria: Selected Issues and Recent Developments of
March 1990, currently available at Regional Documentation Centres.
Information specific to Bulgarian attempts under the Communist
regime to force ethnic Turks, Pomaks and Gypsies to change their
names is available on request.
There is also no information currently
available to the DIRB to indicate that there is an official book
that lists permissible names for children. A report by the Minority
Rights Group indicates, however, that a list of "official" names
was used during the 1984-1985 campaign to force ethnic Turks to
change their names (Oct. 1989., 12).
Helsinki Watch. 12 February 1991. News
From Helsinki Watch. "Destroying Ethnic Identity: Selective
Persecution of Macedonians in Bulgaria."
Minority Rights Group. October 1989. No.
26. Minorities in the Balkans.