Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 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

Artificial intelligence creates a new reality for employers and workers

In the era of increased digitalization and the penetration of artificial intelligence into all spheres of our lives, the professions of people with high qualifications and higher pay are most at risk of extinction. The least affected are jobs that..

published on 2/22/25 2:15 PM

The dream of three generations of Bulgarians in London to have their own Orthodox church comes true

Prayer served by His Holiness Bulgarian Patriarch Daniil on February 22, marks the beginning of the celebrations for the consecration of the new church "St. John of Rila" of the Bulgarian Orthodox community in London. For the..

published on 2/22/25 12:25 PM

The life of the Thracians and the discoveries of local scientists – in focus in ''The Valley of the Thracian Kings''

"Thracians, Wine and Culture" is the theme of a seminar at the archaeological complex "Valley of the Thracian Kings" near Kazanlak , which brings together scholars and researchers from all over Bulgaria on February 22. This is the ninth edition of..

published on 2/22/25 8:15 AM