Short survey of the immigration in Romania

see also: Migration – an economic problem or a cultural one?

In 1994, Romania reported, at the level of the entire country, 874 immigrants. The number experienced variations in the following years, but by 2006 it did not exceed 7,500. In 2008, Romania suddenly rose to 140,000. Most of the immigrants are from the Republic of Moldova and wanted the right of residence or Romanian citizenship after Romania’s integration into the European Union. However, a large part of those who obtained citizenship did not settle here, but went to other European countries, benefiting from the status of community citizens.
According to Eurostat, in January 2018, Romania reported 508,000 people born abroad (2.6% of the population), of which 210,000 came from EU countries, and 298,000 from non-member countries. Even under these conditions, Romania had the lowest share of foreign residents per thousand inhabitants, far below Cyprus, Austria and Estonia, where their share exceeds 15%. The EU average is around 5%, but that is in the conditions where Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Bulgaria and other eastern countries have quotas close to Romania. In contrast, Germany, UK, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, France, Sweden, Italy have averages around 10%.
The responsible authority in Romania is the General Inspectorate for Immigration. The most recent statistical analyzes that the institution has published concern the years 2011-2012. At that time, 1 in 4 foreign residents was from the Republic of Moldova, followed by those from Turkey, China, Syria, USA, Serbia, Israel, Tunisia, Lebanon. They lived in Bucharest (1 out of 3), Ilfov, Iasi, Constanta, Timiș, Cluj, Galați, Prahova and Suceava. The work permits issued were for citizens of China, Turkey, the Philippines, Moldova, Sri Lanka, Serbia, South Korea and Nepal. The jobs for which these work permits were issued were: governess, stone mason, carpenter, professional soccer player, commercial company administrator, cook, concrete worker and driver.
The need to relax the labor market and the possibility of hiring personnel from abroad was not a priority until last year, when a large number of companies, from many fields of activity, complained about the lack of personnel and the impossibility of finding them in the domestic offer. Until now, Romania had a huge chronic unemployment, disguised under the formula of subsistence farms and dependents of families (women, young people). From this chronic unemployment was fueled the migration of the last decade, but also the labor surplus necessary to compensate the flows of the internal economy (in the conditions where the labor force decreased in the period 2007-2017 from 9 million to 8.7 million, but the number of employees remained around 4.7 million). However, according to studies carried out in 2018, the economic activation capacity of these categories seems exhausted. The Coalition for the Development of Romania (CDR) published in October 2018 a barometer made by PwC, which results in a deficit of 1.1 million people in the short term. Among the targeted solutions, bridging the deficit with immigrants is a short-term solution to prevent economic sectors such as construction, tourism and agriculture from being blocked. On an extensive list, other economic areas that can benefit from foreign labor are IT, manufacturing, retail, logistics (home deliveries). covering the deficit with immigrants is a short-term solution to prevent economic sectors such as construction, tourism and agriculture from being blocked. On an extensive list, other economic areas that can benefit from foreign labor are IT, manufacturing, retail, logistics (home deliveries). covering the deficit with immigrants is a short-term solution to prevent economic sectors such as construction, tourism and agriculture from being blocked. On an extensive list, other economic areas that can benefit from foreign labor are IT, manufacturing, retail, logistics (home deliveries).
Attracting labor from abroad is a plausible and long-term solution. After 2030, Romania will face a massive aging of the population, when the oldest generations (the “decreții”) will reach retirement age. The extremely low birth rate in the following decades, as well as recent emigration, will mean that, on the current trend, the number of employees and pensioners will be almost equal (in 2050). Even at the current dependency ratio (0.6 pensioners for every employee), the pension system is hardly sustainable. For it to be minimally maintained at current levels, it would be necessary to supplement the labor force by attracting 2 million foreign workers in 2030 and 4 million foreign workers in 2050. (Potentially, some of the shortfall will be made up by robotization and increasing economic yield,
The MigrationDataPortalii website, which provides comparative maps drawn from qualitative research on migration, provides, among other things, a map of public acceptance of immigrants. Based on a 2015 Gallup survey, Romania is, along with the other ex-communist states, among the countries least permissive to the influx of migrants: 47% of the population agrees, compared to over 70% in all countries western
Currently, according to Eurostat, there are 161,000 Moldovan citizens, 56,000 Italians and 48,000 Spaniards in Romania. Ukrainians, British, French, Germans and Bulgarians represent groups of over 10,000 people. The figures are valid for 2017. From non-EU countries, according to the 2018 Report of the General Inspectorate for Immigration, 120,000 foreigners have the right of legal residence in Romania, these being family members of a Romanian citizen (37%), studying (23 %) and those who benefit from the permanent right of residence (17%). 2,317 asylum applications from people from Iraq, Syria and Iran are added.

A semnificative change was in 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A large number of Ukrainian refugees have left the country under attack, taking refuge in Poland, Romania and the Republic of Moldova. More than 1.5 million refugees arrived in Romania, but many just transited this country. Only 100,000 decided to settle here for the duration of the war. Most of them want to return to Ukraine when the conflict is over. For the moment, their social and economic integration in Romania is reduced.

Text and image: Nicu Ilie

See the full article in Cultura magazine. Translated with the accord of the author. Rights reserved. Copyright: revistacultura.ro