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

"For" or "against" mobile phones - an open question in Bulgarian schools

A few days before the start of the new 2024-2025 school year, the idea of ​​a complete ban on mobile phones in school is emerging in public space . The main reasons for such a decision are the low success rate in school, the absent-mindedness of..

published on 9/16/24 1:41 PM

Folklore groups, cooks and artisans from Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece to take part in the "Balkantea" festival in Sozopol

More than 10 folklore groups, cooks and artisans from Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece will gather at the "Balkantea" festival in Sozopol from 16 to 18 September.  The event will be officially opened by the Mayor of Sozopol, Tihomir Yanakiev, at the..

published on 9/16/24 9:05 AM
Photo: Bulgarian school Rose Valley in London

396 Bulgarian schools around the world open doors for the new school year

More than 32,000 Bulgarian children in 43 countries on 6 continents will be heading for the 396 Bulgarian Sunday schools around the world registered for the school year 2024-2025. More than 2,000 teachers will be teaching them to read and write in..

published on 9/16/24 6:54 AM