Migrants and activists claim that the Bulgarian police used indiscriminate violence against detainees at the Pastogor detention camp after two escaped.
BIRN, an investigation website, covering the Balkan, reported that a police unit beat detainees at Pastogor detention camp near Turkish border. Some detainees suffered broken hands and fingers and head wounds. Disturbing footage from several videos and images reviewed by Balkan Insight show the mass violence in the camp.
The protest broke out because of the spike in overcrowding at Bulgarian border facilities. At Pastogor alone, the detained population went from just a few individuals to over 220 people by late July.
Pastogor Camp: A Place of Escalating Tensions
Under the European Pact on Asylum and Migration, most irregular arrivals at the EU’s external borders will be detained. They stay seven days to twelve weeks during screening and asylum procedures. In some cases, such as those of people awaiting repatriation or transfer to a third country, their detention may drag on even longer.
On July 26 after weeks of protesting conditions, refugees and migrants at the facility joined an outside demonstration. Following a peaceful protest and the escape of two detainees, around 30 to 40 heavily armed officers allegedly entered the facility, conducting mass, indiscriminate beatings and destroying phones. Detainees reported being beaten unconscious and subjected to continued abuse, including forced pledges, at a nearby police station.
Some 28 kilometres from the Turkish border and located in the vicinity of other migrant hosting centres, Pastrogor had served as an open camp since 2012, processing asylum applications, until December last year, when it was transformed into a detention centre under the new EU’s migration pact.
Bulgaria’s State Agency for Refugees told BIRN that the Interior Ministry, under which the agency operates, is responsible for security at the Pastrogor centre, but stated that “the material and living conditions at the Temporary Accommodation Centre (TAC) in the village of Pastrogor meet the established European standards”.
Bulgaria Falling Behind on EU Pact Implementation
Despite the full implementation of the EU Pact for June 12, 2026, Bulgaria lags behind other member states in drafting and adopting the New Draft Law on International Protection.
The New Draft Law is characterized as lacking clarity and structure, and substantiating regulatory gaps in regards to key proceedings and procedures governed by the Pact.
While this draft law on granting asylum remains stuck in the legislative pipeline, Bulgaria continues to expand its securitization apparatus under the Pact in the development of two preliminary screening facilities in Elhovo and Dragoman.
The State Agency for Refugees notes the risk of escalating tensions between communities.
Moreover, Bulgaria’s current model creates enormous corruption pressure. That does not mean every individual actor is corrupt. It means the structure of deterrence generates ideal conditions for corruption.
