(from No Name Kitchen)
"A tiny piece of plastic. A lifeline.
It weighs less than a gram and costs €11. You probably have one in your phone and never think about it.
But for someone locked inside the Lyubimets Detention Center in Bulgaria, a SIM card is everything. It is a mother’s voice after weeks of silence, a way to tell your children you’re alive, a lawyer’s number, a reminder that the world outside still exists, and that you still exist in it.
It is also a way to be heard. With a SIM card, people can tell us what happens behind those walls.
What happens behind the walls?
Lyubimets lies about 30 km from the Turkish border. Hundreds of people are held there, often for months. Bulgarian law allows up to 18 months of detention for people arriving without “the right” documents, and under the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, in force since June 2026, detention is becoming routine. The EU funds it, and its flag hangs beside the heavy gates.
People tell us about verbal abuse from guards, a lack of clean drinking water, and no access to toilets at night. We have witnessed medical neglect, including a diabetic person denied their medicine. There are no activities and no psychological support, only long days of waiting and fear.
And the authorities keep people isolated: phones must have no camera and need a working SIM card. They provide neither.
What we do
No Name Kitchen visits Lyubimets every week, one of very few groups that do. We bring clothes, food and hygiene items, document testimonies, and try to bring some warmth into this cold place.
And we bring SIM cards. We hand out dozens every month, but our funds can’t keep up for much longer.
€11 = one SIM card. One person no longer alone. A voice the authorities can’t silence.
Donate now, and share this with someone who cares."
https://www.nonamekitchen.org/donate
#Bulgaria #DisobeyInjustice #NoNameKitchen #MigrantRights #Lyubimets #SIMcards #donations
