Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

Rafik Hana, refugee, and his successful career in Bulgaria

Rafik Hana (second from the left) with his colleagues

Rafik Hana came to Bulgaria with his family from Egypt. At the employment agency for refugees he met his current employer – engineer Boyko Vatov, who says he does not make any distinction between people, the colour of their skin, their religion or their status. What matters to him is how they do their job.

Rafik and his family came to Bulgaria because being Christian they were persecuted in Egypt during the revolution. They came looking for a safe place and protected communities. “In Bulgaria I have no problem with anyone, people are friendly.”

The company Petrov Technology was awarded a successful practice certificate for the labour integration of refugees. It is, in fact, the first good example in this sphere. Boyko Vatov says that in hiring the refugee worker, he had found a person of value and a good specialist.

“We had the good fortune of finding a man suited to the job with the necessary motivation for work. He has sound training, and the only difficulty is that he has not yet learnt the language. But we have experience with the language barrier. Every year we have interns from the Spanish Basque country. There were no particular problems with Rafik, because he is fluent in English. He has the professional experience, he has work habits in an environment like ours, something you do not see very often with refugees coming from Arab countries,” engineer Vatov says.​

English version: Milena Daynova

Photo: Private library



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Military brass bands parade in Veliko Tarnovo

Veliko Tarnovo hosts the 17 th International Festival of Military Brass Bands, the organizers from the Municipality of Veliko Tarnovo announced. This year, the festival will feature the Romanian Navy Military Band, the Guards Representative Brass..

published on 9/21/24 8:45 AM
Photo: Association for Antiquity Reconstruction

Ancient festival in Sofia recreates the era of Emperor Constantius II

Guests and residents of Sofia will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the period of Late Antiquity and the reign of Emperor Constantius II, son of Constantine the Great. The reenactment is organized on September 21 and 22 by the Association..

published on 9/21/24 7:55 AM

Festival of homemade cheese takes place in the Bulgarian village of Cherni Vit

For the fourth year in a row, in the village of Cherni Vit near Teteven, a festival of homemade cheese is being organized, the BNR correspondent in Lovech, Plamen Hristov, has reported. The opening is at 10 a.m. In addition to home-made cheese..

published on 9/21/24 6:10 AM