Attached please find the covering memorandum which was missing from your copy of "Human Rights Violations in BulgariaReports from the Independent Information Agency Apia". As you can see, the information came to the IRBDC through the offices of Radio Free Europe in Munich where it was translated from Bulgarian. Apia is an independent information agency in Sofia.

Much of the information which the IRBDC consults for questions involving Eastern Europe is derived from Radio Free Europe sources which have proven to be reliable.

20 June 1990

Bulgaria: 1) Is an exit visa and foreign currency needed in order to leave Bulgaria?2) Were persons who were considered politically unreliable drafted into Army Labour Units (also called Black Units) whose activities were classified secret?If so, once they had served their time were they forbidden to leave Bulgaria for at least 10 years after their service had ended?3) Are there any restrictions on married couples in so far as travel outside Bulgaria is concerned?4) What is the penalty upon return to Bulgaria for a crew member who deserts his ship in Canada, makes an unsuccessful refugee claim, and is later returned to Bulgaria?
From:

Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation Centre, Ottawa
Keywords:

Bulgaria / national law / visas / armed forces / military service / transport / travel / civil and political rights / freedom of movement / repatriation / returnees

1) 4) According to the Bulgarian Justice Minister, Svetla Daskalova:
'defection' is no longer a crime. Failure to return within the appointed time will be considered an administrative offence. ...[Offenders] will not be treated as political emigrants and can return to Bulgaria without fear of persecution by the state. [ Svetla Daskalova, Democracy and Humanism: The Groundwork of Change in Legislation (Sofia: Sofia Press, 1989), p. 8. (Attached)]

Until March 1990, exit visas were required for trips to nonsocialist states. [ Telephone conversation with official, Bulgarian Embassy in Ottawa, 20 June 1990.] Under new legislation, exit visas are no longer required for travel outside of Bulgaria. Persons leaving Bulgaria are not required by the Bulgarian government to possess foreign currency although the country to which they are travelling may. [ Ibid.]

Passports can be denied under Article 7 to:
minors and those placed under interdiction, unless their parents, custodians or guardians have agreed in writing; ...persons facing trial or sentence and those not having served their term; persons paying alimonies without securing them for the period of their stay abroad ... persons whose travel abroad threatens state security... persons with serious debts established through the court and do not guarantee [sic] payment; persons who have been punished for systematic violation of Bulgarian customs and currency legislation a year after serving the sentence...persons punished for violating customs control on narcotic drugs a year after serving the punishment. [Daskalova, p. 6.]

The government issued an amnesty on charges against those who left the country illegally since 9 September 1944 (non-returners) and decriminalized the offences contained in Articles 280 and 281 of the Criminal Code. [ Kjell Engelbrekt, "Liberalization of Legislation on Citizenship and Passports", Radio Free Europe Research, 29 June 1989, p. 7.] According to the official at the Bulgarian Embassy, persons returning to Bulgaria face no penalty for having left even if they made a refugee claim while abroad.

The IRBDC cannot corroborate this information at the present time and does not know whether the amendments are being fully enforced in practice.

2) The IRBDC has no information currently available on whether persons considered politically unreliable were drafted into "Black Units". An on-line search failed to find any mention of Army Labour Units or Black Units.

3) According to an official at the Bulgarian Embassy in Ottawa, there are no restrictions on married couples with regard to travel outside Bulgaria. [ Conversation, 20 June 1990.] The IRBDC cannot corroborate this information at the present time.