Sofia Hosts 108 Ghettos Inhabited by over 2000 People - Survey

A survey of UNICEF Bulgaria and the Sofia Municipality shows that the Bulgarian capital hosts at least 108 ghettos with a population of slightly over 2 thousand people in 11 residential districts.

The survey, as cited by dnevnik.bg, was conducted among 681 families, or a total of 2062 people, 948 of them children.

The respondents were mostly of Roma ethnic origin.

The survey does not include Roma neighborhoods but focuses on the so-called pockets of poverty, or pockets of vulnerability, with small compact groups of people.

According to the report, no pockets of vulnerability were recorded in some residential districts of the capital.

The survey includes the residential districts of Serdika, Vazrazhdane, Ilinden, Poduyane, Lyulin, Ovcha Kupel, Slatina, Studentski, Vitosha, Mladost, and Krasna Polyana.

The report shows that the number of families living in living in very bad housing conditions is highest in the residential districts of Slatina and Serdika, reaching a total of 308 people.

The highest number of children who do not go to school or kindergarten, 37, was registered in the residential district of Ilinden.

The highest number of unemployed, 373 people, was recorded in the residential districts of Serdika and Poduyane.

The highest number of children lacking a registration with a general practitioner, 13, was recorded in the residential district of Ilinden, and the highest number of children exposed to risk of negligence or violence, 68, was registered in the residential district of Poduyane.

The highest number of HIV-positive children, 5, was registered in the residential district of Orlandovtsi.

The survey indicated a total of 745 unemployed and a total of 599 people living in bad sanitary conditions.

The report found 233 children were exposed to violence, 200 children left out of the educational system, and 38 children lacking a registration with a general practitioner.

According to the survey, some of the pockets of vulnerability are expected to remain small, but they may also grow, depending on the social and economic situation in Bulgaria.

The report also says that the migration pressure on Sofia will not subside in the foreseeable future and is even expected to increase due to the concentration of economic potential in Sofia.

Citing the experience of other countries in the sphere, the report notes that the attempts to get people to move out of these sites and to return them to places of permanent residence only yielded short-lived results.

The data also shows that cities lacking a strong integration policy for economic migrants have not experienced a decrease in the influx of newcomers.

The deficiency has only given rise to illegal camps and ghettos.

The survey is yet to be reviewed and voted by the Sofia Municipal Council alongside an action plan for 2013.

A strategy on the problem is to be adopted in 2013.

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