Almost 15 months after the start of the devastating war in Ukraine, nearly 50 000 people fleeing the conflict remain in Bulgaria. As part of IOM Bulgaria’s Ukraine Response activities, our social workers travel across the country visiting different cities and towns with concentration of refugees from Ukraine and providing various types of support to those in need.

Last week an IOM Bulgaria team visited the towns of Gabrovo and Veliko Tarnovo where according to the local refugee communities there are hundreds of displaced families from Ukraine.

In Gabrovo the IOM team was kindly hosted by Kristina Sidorova - the Regional Governor the Gabrovo region, who provided space for the meeting in the District Administration building, while in Veliko Turnovo the meetings were held at the Red Cross facilities in the city.

Among the refugees from Ukraine located in the two cities there are many families with children coming from some of the worst affected areas in Ukraine. Many such families, matching our vulnerability criteria received food vouchers from the IOM Bulgaria social workers.

Many of the refugees from Ukraine in the area are vulnerable individuals with serious health conditions. After a vulnerability screening according to a set of criteria, tens of such people received financial assistance in the form of prepaid cards. Furthermore, the IOM team provided healthcare support by purchasing medicines for people with medical conditions.

These activities were implemented with the financial support of The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration of the U.S. State Department (PRM) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.