RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

Romanian Experience in Refugee Camps

As the inflow of refugees from Syria to Europe grew, Romanian society reacted with debates and polemics.

Romanian Experience in Refugee Camps
Romanian Experience in Refugee Camps

, 24.08.2016, 11:00

As the inflow of refugees from Syria to Europe grew, Romanian
society reacted with debates and polemics. Officially, Romania committed to
taking in 6,200 refugees through the EU relocation program. Socially, the
situation of refugees sparked disputes, but also empathy, mostly for women and
children. In 2013, photo journalist Ioana Moldovan went to the Jordanian camp
for Syrian refugees in Zaatari. Back then, people did not consider moving further,
and had even settled there, in a manner of speaking.


Ioana Moldovan: The Zaatari camp had already become a small town, it had
a street with small shop and taverns, called
mockingly ‘Champs Elysees’. It was surprising to me to see developing a
community of around 120,000 people who, running away from a war, were trying,
one way or another, to make a new life for themselves. Some lived in tents,
others in containers, the kind workers live in on construction sites, made to
look more or less as a home does. I did notice one thing: in Zaatari, people
had some hope to go back home soon, but the refugees on the way to Europe had
none of that hope.


Ioana Moldovan accompanied the refugees on their trip to Europe,
through Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, aiming for the promised land
that they believed Germany was, without even knowing how things would turn out
to be there. They just wished for a better life for them and their families, as
Ioana Moldovan told us:


I think I was most impressed by their determination,
courage and staunchness, because you need all this to start on such a road, to
go through this ordeal, to endure sleepless nights, cross the sea in an
inflatable boat. In my experience with them, I don’t think I’ve encountered any
pessimism. I saw fatigue, frustration, but I don’t think I saw pessimism.


In the first wave of migration, mainly men arrived to the shores of
Europe, but now there are mostly women and children arriving, adding to the
tragedy. Ioana Moldovan’s photos have captured their plight:


If in the refugee camps the women, especially mothers,
created for themselves and their families a sort of environment that felt
somewhat like home, where they could manage their lives, on the way to Europe
this becomes almost impossible. For a long while, access to toilets was
impossible, or to proper hygiene. I saw mothers with babies who had to change
diapers on a train or in the open field.


Last year, after seeing what gets posted on social media, Alina
Petcu quit her job with a state company, where she worked as an economist, and
went to Lesbos. The island where she used to spend her vacations had turned
into a refugee camp:


The first few days I went to a camp for vulnerable
individuals, people who had lost relatives during the boat crossing, including
children orphaned for the same reason. Then I went to the north of the island,
to Molyvos, where I joined a volunteer association. I worked a lot in the
harbor there and in a transit camp. This was the first stop for refugees, and
after that they were directed to the capital of the island for registration.
They stayed in Molyvos for only a few hours, unless they spent the night there.
Volunteers worked 24/7, in shifts.


Alina was most impressed by the women in the camp who managed to act
almost normal under those terrible circumstances.


When I got there, I saw these women were just like us.
They came from all social strata, some had no education at all, while others
were professionals, like physicians or pharmacists. A few days before I left, a
woman with a husband and a child gave birth right as she landed in Greece. A
volunteer who had never done that before acted as a midwife. She gave birth
right there, on the stones, surrounded by people, and a physician joined in
eventually. I also met a lot of women who had left by themselves. They had been
students, and they were seeking a better life. They didn’t wear the hijab, they
seemed quite cosmopolitan.


In line with the EU relocation mechanism, Romania has so far taken in 139 refugees. However,
Romania’s effort to integrate asylum seekers is wider, according to Ana Neamtu,
expert with the General Immigration Inspectorate.


Ana Neamtu: In parallel with this mechanism, Romania prepares for an
influx of migrants at its borders, which means setting up camps referred to as
‘integration centers’, managed by the border police. In addition, Romania
continues to have a continuous influx of migrants, which is on a slightly
rising trend. In 2015 we had around 1,200 asylum applications, about the same
as in the previous two years. In 2015, about 500 people applied for one form of
protection or another from the Romanian state. In the last two years, most
asylum seekers who successfully applied for protection were Syrian. Romania has
6 centers for asylum seekers and refugees, housing 1,700, and is preparing to
open more if need be.


The situation of women refugees has the attention of the European
Parliament, which has recently passed a report on the issue of gender in asylum
policies and procedures.

Tags:
atac cibernetic securitate hacker foto pixabay
Society Today Wednesday, 06 November 2024

Caution! Social engineering!

October has been proclaimed, at the level of the European Union, the month of cyber security. In 2024, the utopian the European Union has been...

Caution! Social engineering!
(foto: Anqa / pixabay.com)
Society Today Wednesday, 23 October 2024

Access to contraceptive methods in post-communist Romania: 35 years on

Romanian society has a troublesome past regarding reproductive health. The country’s troubled past began in 1966. We recall that back then a decree...

Access to contraceptive methods in post-communist Romania: 35 years on
Photo: pixabay.com
Society Today Wednesday, 16 October 2024

New solutions for old problems: bullying

A study carried out by Save the Children at the beginning of the year showed that one in two students in Romania was a victim of threats, humiliation...

New solutions for old problems: bullying
Photo: pixabay.com
Society Today Wednesday, 02 October 2024

Romania must redefine itself economically

In 2022, the employed population of Romania was 7.6 million people. Of these, 5.5 million were employees with individual employment contracts. Most...

Romania must redefine itself economically
Society Today Wednesday, 25 September 2024

The Urban Bee Patrol

The concrete walls and trees groomed every season, are sometimes home to bees with honeycombs. Tens of thousands of bees find shelter in ventilation...

The Urban Bee Patrol
Society Today Wednesday, 18 September 2024

Romania’s new faces

Romania has been facing a workforce deficit for quite some time now, created by a negative birthrate, a dramatic ageing of the population and a...

Romania’s new faces
Society Today Wednesday, 11 September 2024

The Second Gender

Among all European countries, Romania has the lowest female employment rate. 45.4% of Romanian women have a job, compared to men, of whom 62.7% are...

The Second Gender
Society Today Wednesday, 04 September 2024

Support for Child Refugees from Ukraine

After more than two years since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the first waves of Ukrainian refugees who found Romania unprepared, but extremely...

Support for Child Refugees from Ukraine

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company