NPM established that a substantial number of people leave SAR centres on their own accord and there was no information about their whereabouts, which is extremely alarming. For a second year now the NPM cited as a major problem the lack of integration programmes for beneficiaries of international protection. The inspection showed that the material conditions in all SAR centres had deteriorated, with the exception of the registration and reception centre in Vrazhdebna. The NPM is particularly concerned about the 2015 amendments to the Asylum and Refugees Act regulating detention of asylum seekers, including minors, in closed-type centres during asylum proceedings. This creates prerequisites for violations of domestic and international asylum and human rights law, which is why the NPM will strictly monitor procedural guarantees, lawful detention and period of detention of asylum-seekers during its inspections in 2016. In 2016 the Ombudsman acting as NPM will pay particular attention to the rights of women and children, especially minors, and will focus on violence against women placed in centres operated by the SAR and Migration Directorate. MONITORING FORCED RETURN In 2015 the NPM monitored one operation of forced return of foreigners to Pakistan, organized by the Bulgarian authorities and coordinated by the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union (Frontex). The NPM made concretre recommendations to the Ministry of Interior (MoI) regarding every stage of the operation. ІІ. PROTECTING PERSONS DEPRIVED OF THEIR LIBERTY As regards protection of persons deprived of their liberty, the Bulgarian authorities have seriously addressed the problems repetitively pointed out by the NPM, European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and civil society organisations in the country. This marks an important step forward as compared to the findings from previous years. However, next to the general problems that the competent bodies have addressed or committed to act upon the recommendations made, the NPM points out to a series of specific problems of individual vulnerable groups that need to be attended. Such groups are women and adolescents in places of detention; LGBT community; drug addicts; HIV/AIDS positive persons; and people with disabilities. Respect for these people’s rights will be a priority for the NPM during the upcoming inspections. In 2015 the NPM visited the reformatory of Boychinovtsi, twelve prisons and five police custody facilities. The report reviews in detail all inspected places and points out the identified deficiencies, together with recommendations for each place. The NPM considers medical care to be the most serious problem. The health care system is a “closed” one – self-regulating, understaffed, with poor material and technical equipment, which obstructs its functioning. This is why the NPM proposed to the Ministry of Justice a concept for a reform of the medical care in the places of detention and made the following suggestions: 7