3,843 unaccompanied children crossed into Bulgaria last year, and 416 since the beginning of 2024, said Ivaylo Yabalkarov from the Mission Wings Foundation, in an interview with the BNR.

• On the fate of migrant children in Bulgaria

The children come mostly from Syria and Afghanistan and are put up in camps there they are given medical assistance and attend courses. With the help of UNICEF and the State Agency for Refugees three safety zones have been opened – the last one of them in Harmanli, with a capacity of 98, and if the need arises – up to 200.

“We call these children “invisible” because there is scant information about them. There are families who are now ready to open their homes to them. Some worry about the language barrier,” said Ivaylo Yabalkarov in a comment on the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression, 4 June.