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

The Jamala Masquerade Festival fills the town of Kyustendil with sound and colour

More than 4,000 participants from 52 masquerade groups from all over the country will take part in the Jamala National Masquerade Festival in Kyustendil on 15 and 16 February. A children's folklore procession will start from Velbazhd Square at 10.30 a.m...

published on 2/15/25 7:30 AM

Archaeology as a cause for people who unearth and protect Bulgaria’s historical heritage

With more 40 thousand archaeological sites and artifacts, Bulgaria is a true open-air museum. In terms of the number of finds, this country ranks third in the world after Italy and Greece. From the Neolithic, eight millennia ago, to..

published on 2/14/25 3:11 PM

Balkan developments

NATO tests new 'no U.S.' mission model in Balkans NATO is testing its ability to deploy rapidly across Eastern Europe - without direct US support - as Washington shifts its approach to European defence and the war in Ukraine, the Associated Press..

published on 2/14/25 2:17 PM