Caitlin L. Chandler, a journalist specializing in migration for The New York Times, has carried out an investigation for 10 months about the living conditions of those held in the Busmantsi detention center, in Hungary.
The center, which they euphemistically call “special home for”, is a former military barracks located about 11 kilometers from Sofia, the country’s capital. Life there is a real hell.
In the , the journalist points out that “the detainees told me that They woke up every morning with pink bed bug bites on their arms and legs.. “They tried spraying the dirty mattresses with local chemicals that promised to eradicate the bugs, but it never worked, or at least not for long.”
Regarding food, Chandler points out that “Three times a day, they went to the cafeteria to eat colorless meals. Breakfast consisted of white bread. A typical lunch consisted of a chicken wing and some cabbage; dinner consisted of boiled potatoes, bread and an apple.”
30 people crammed into cells without a bathroom
The text also states that “30 people are crammed into each cellwhich the guards close at 10 pm and don’t open again until 7 am The rooms don’t have bathrooms, so at night the men urinate through the window.”
There is no running water either“so those who have the flu or food poisoning They vomit in plastic bags. “Some men hang sheets around their beds in a gesture of privacy, but in the corner there is a camera, with its telltale red eye,” the report notes.
From time to time, to some of the migrants housed in the detention centerand takes them to a small room where they await you agents of the Bulgarian police and the border police of the European Union, Frontex.
In that sense, Caitlin L. Chandler indicates that “The agents tell them that they can leave if they sign an agreement to return to their countries of origin: Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and others. “If they don’t, they will be locked up for a year and a half.”
Regarding what decision migrants usually make in this regard, the journalist states that “at first, the majority refuses to sign, but It’s hard to stay sane in a Bulgarian cell when no crime has been committed, so sometimes men sign and, a week later, they are gone. Some, however, decide to endure the full 18 monthsafter which the majority will be released and allowed remain in Bulgaria”.
