The government has decided to scrap plans for closed refugee camps in Sredets and Simeonovgrad for good.
The sites in both towns, which had been given to the State Agency for Refugees, will go back to the regional governors of Burgas and Haskovo. The regional administrations will organise the handover.
The state gave the agency the land free of charge in February. In Sredets, it includes more than 300 decares (over 30 hectares) of ruined former barracks and a training ground. The plan to use it caused strong public anger in the municipality.
Sredets mayor Ivan Kichev opposes building any such site in the municipality. He says the land is completely wrecked and residents firmly reject a camp.
In June, interior minister Ivan Demerdzhiev answered a question from MP Boris Aladzhov at a parliamentary question session. He said the issue had been settled by expanding existing facilities in the country.