Roma People in Garmen Refuse Social Assistance

Six families residing in some of the illegal buildings in the Garmen municipality have refused to use the social services they have been offered.

Four out of all six of them have continued living in the houses that were already demolished over the course of the past one week. Two more houses are scheduled to be leveled on July 13, as reported by the Agency for Social Assistance to the Bulgarian Labor Ministry.

The agency's representatives in the nearby city of Gotse Delchev have stated that the minority groups have been consulted on the social assistance they can be provided with. However, the majority of people have preferred to stay in the houses of relatives or friends.

Ethnic tensions rose in the Bulgarian village Garmen when Bulgarians started protesting against the illegally residing Roma population in the region. According to them, the minority group had been involved in smuggling practices across town that could no longer be tolerated.