Two Russian women who are part of the LGBTQ community have been living in limbo for over a year as they struggle to obtain refugee status in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian State Refugee Agency (DAB) has refused their applications, putting them at risk of deportation to Russia, a country that has increasingly become hostile to LGBTQ individuals.

Elena Sanina and Oksana Glazunova, both hailing from Russia, applied for asylum in Bulgaria after the war in Ukraine broke out in February 2022. The two women, a couple, were on vacation in Bulgaria, but their visas were about to expire. However, they knew that returning to Russia would be unsafe due to their sexual orientation. Faced with no other option, they embarked on a desperate journey through Bulgaria's bureaucratic asylum process, reports Novaya Gazeta Europe.

The ordeal began when they were denied extensions on their visas. They visited the Migration Directorate in Bulgaria multiple times, hoping for a reprieve that would allow them to stay in the country. At the direction of the Migration Directorate, they subsequently applied for refugee status with the DAB, which they believed would provide them with legal protection in Bulgaria.

However, the DAB's response was disheartening. The agency considered their first asylum application from March to October 2022, ultimately rejecting their request. Unfortunately, the initial application was deemed poorly written, and the two women, lacking legal counsel, struggled to present their case adequately. Sanina has admitted that they naively believed persecution only referred to physical violence and didn't mention the closure of their Moscow theater and harassment due to their LGBTQ status.

Despite their initial rejection, they refused to give up. With the assistance of a lawyer, they submitted a new application for asylum in Sofia, hoping that the change in location might result in a different outcome. However, this decision had serious consequences. Shortly after, the immigration police visited their residence twice within two weeks. The couple suspected that these visits were tied to the Russian authorities, particularly a man named Maxim who had previously contacted them on social media and played a dubious role in their lives.

During these visits, the immigration police reportedly threatened Sanina and Glazunova with extradition, although they might not have been aware of the new asylum application. The agency's response was not much more reassuring; while they confirmed that a decision had been reached, the Russian women were not informed of the outcome. They were also denied access to the decision document, adding to their distress.

In a last-ditch effort, the women traveled to Sofia, where they learned that the DAB had refused to consider their case further. Their justification was that there had been no increase in repression in Russia during the year that their first application was being considered. This decision contradicted the reality on the ground, with Russia implementing stricter laws against LGBTQ propaganda.

Elena Sanina and Oksana Glazunova find themselves back in a legal battle against the DAB's decision. Their future remains uncertain. It is unclear whether the Directorate of Migration will initiate deportation proceedings or provide them with an opportunity to appeal the DAB's ruling.