Assistance for the families evacuated from Gaza
The Romanian government grants financial aid to people evacuated from Gaza.
Ştefan Stoica, 24.11.2023, 13:50
About 250 people, Romanian citizens and their families, have been evacuated from Gaza, since the start of the conflict in the region. On Thursday, the Romanian government decided to grant to all of them financial aid from the reserve fund for current expenses. As of December 1, for four months, the repatriated persons will benefit from a support package for reintegration or social integration, i.e. money for food, accommodation and other needs. For food, each person, alone or from a family, will receive 600 lei, the equivalent of 120 euros. For accommodation, families with up to five members will receive 2,000 lei, about 400 euros, and the families with more than five members will receive 3,000 lei (600 euros) for accommodation. Romania repatriated most of the people with Romanian citizenship and their families, who had requested repatriation, although the process was and remains complicated, being hampered by technical problems.
The evacuation was carried out following the complex efforts of the Interinstitutional Crisis Cell, through the Romanian Embassy in Cairo and the Romanian Representative Office in Ramallah. Those who want to leave Gaza, need an approval. Once obtained, they leave Gaza crossing to Egypt through the Rafah border crossing point. According to the Romanian diplomacy, the Romanian citizens and their families are taken from the border between Gaza and Egypt by a team from the Rapid Reaction Unit of the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE) Crisis Cell and representatives of the Romanian Embassy in Egypt and are accompanied to Cairo by another mobile team of the MAE Crisis Cell. Afterwards, they are repatriated by plane.
The Romanian authorities have given assurances that none of those who want to leave Gaza will be left there. According to the spokesman for the Romanian Foreign Ministry, quoted by Euronews, the Romanians in Gaza who have not asked, so far, to be evacuated, but could do so if the conflict were to move to the south of the Gaza Strip, will be supported by the authorities from Bucharest.
On the other hand, Romania also gets involved in helping the civilian population in the region. A cargo aircraft made available by the European Commission transported aid offered by the Romanian state to the population of the Gaza Strip. The aid consists of barrack equipment items taken from the state reserves, such as tents, beds, mattresses, pillows and bedding. On October 19, the National Committee for Emergency Situations approved a decision that provided for the granting of free international assistance to the affected civilian population in the Gaza Strip, consisting of food products and barrack equipment. (LS)