End destitution of refugees in Romania

Refugees in Romania ‘Consigned To Homeless and Hunger’ By Romanian Government an EU member
    
Updated 19 June 2017

Note: It is possible to continuously update the text with further information.

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Refugees are being left homeless and destitute because of Romanian Government policy fails to support them.

Refugees spent years hunger, homeless and jobless.

“We are forced to live in deplorable conditions by the European Union’s Dublin Regulation Member States.” Refugees and asylum Seekers said in Romania.
  
Poor health, no wealth, no home: a case study of destitution

Fleeing your home and arriving in a new country is a traumatic experience. But once here in Romania, many people who escaped one crisis now face another: destitution.

 Self-worth gone

Having to live hand-to-mouth, desperate and penniless, can happen at any point in the asylum process, even those taking refugee status in Romania.

It can affect the young man waiting to submit an application, or the mother who is granted protection and now has to decipher the paperwork.

As one man said to us during the research: “You lose your whole self-worth.”


 Key findings

Our latest report on destitution uses the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers across Romania as a case study.

• Many refugees and asylum seekers report regular hunger – and hungry every day.
• Many refugees said that they are homeless and do not have any accommodation for sleep
• Many refugees said their health had worsened.
• Many refugees have no fixed address. In our experience, this adds to the risk of serious – including sexual – exploitation.
• Many refugees said that they are unemployment and do not have any allowance support. 
  
  
  
  What are we calling for?

• We want to see a fair, effective and humane asylum system that treats people with respect and dignity.
• We want that system to uphold the Romania's responsibilities to provide safety for refugees.
• We believe that no refugee and asylum seeker in Romania should be without a home and financial support.
• We think that a better system would include the early and sustained delivery of quality legal advice. 
  
  
   Main recommendations

• Give financial support to people who fall destitute, up until they have refugee status or can return to their home country.
• Give free healthcare to all refugees and asylum seekers, no matter what their status – as is the case in Western and Northern Europe.

Share your stories with us, our E-mail
 protect-refugees-network@protonmail.com

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Appalling living conditions for refugees and asylum-seekers in Romania:

This report documents the extremely difficult living conditions of refugees and asylum seekers and persons with protection status in Romania. This documentation focuses on the situation in Bucharest, however, similar problems are known to exist in other Romanian cities. This description of the circumstances under which people live aims to contribute to an improvement of the situation. Those who are politically responsible in Romania are obliged to create a sufficient number of humane accommodation facilities and adequate integration measures. This report, however, may not be used as an excuse to evict refugees from the provisional accommodation mentioned as these are the only places for those who would otherwise be homeless.

Until Romania complies with its obligations, we hope this report will help to
persuade other EU countries to refrain, for the time being, from deporting refugees to Romania. We are not alone in finding that the conditions
for refugees in Romania are degrading. Other refugee and human rights
organizations have come to the same conclusions.

Romania is a member of the European Union Since 2007 also the Europe's Dublin Regulation. A country situated in southeastern Europe, whose national capital is Bucharest. The official language is Romanian. Romania has 22 million inhabitants.An emigrant nation that saw millions of citizens leave in search of work after the demise of the Soviet Union, Romania has recently begun to contend with immigration.

Romania is one of the EU countries with the lowest percentage of refugees and asylum seekers. The country has just a few small migrant communities, an underdeveloped asylum system and is one of the poorest countries in Europe.

Being a member of the EU but not of the Schengen area, Romania is just a transit county for asylum seekers and refugees. All asylum applicants in Romania are poor and somewhat confused and the country is rarely their end goal.


Despite the low number of refugees in the country, anti-refugee sentiment increased dramatically during the year. Public perception toward the regional refugee and migrant crisis switched from initial empathy and a lukewarm reception to growing hostility due to increasing anti-migrant rhetoric within the public sphere. According to a national poll by INSCOP Research, almost 90 percent of the public would not agree to hosting refugees in their community and opposition to them is growing . An NGO attempted to build a small refugee shelter in Ardud, a town in the north of the country but gave up after residents protested and signed a petition against it. In April residents of Vama Veche, a popular seaside resort, protested the building of a government transit center there. The extreme-right party Noua Dreapta (New Right) was very active and vocal in protesting the establishment of such centers.

It is estimated that on average 1000 to 2000 people apply for asylum each year, from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, Russia, Turkey also other countries and most recently, from Africa and Syria.
Romania was hit hard by the economic crisis in 2010 with cuts in social benefits, wages and jobs. Asylum-seekers also felt the financial squeeze when hot water in reception centres was restricted to only certain hours a day in the wake of budget cuts.
Asylum seekers in Romania face a number of difficulties, especially outside of the capital where shortcomings are even graver than in Bucharest.

According to the Dublin regulation, you can only apply for refugee status in one
member state. Usually, this is the member state which you first reach. In practice
this normally means that the country where you apply will return you to the
appropriate state.

The deal’s flawed assumption that Romania is a safe and protective country for asylum seekers and refugees would allow the members state to transfer them back to Romania without considering the merits of their asylum claims.

The Dublin Regulation applies in the following countries(31 states) Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.


The competent authorities to receive your asylum application are the branches of:
- Romanian Immigration Office (RIO)
- Romanian Border Police
- Romanian Police
- National Administration of Prisons within Ministry of Justice

RIO – Regional Centre for Accommodation and Procedures for Asylum Seekers in Romania:
• Stolnicu Reception Centre in Bucharest
• Radauti Reception Centre (North-East of Romania)
• Somcuta Mare Reception Centre (North–West of Romania)
• Galati Reception Centre (East of Romania)
• Timisoara Reception Centre (West of Romania)

Being a Refugee in Romania;

Some problems in Stolnicu Reception Centre (Asylum/Refugee Camp) in Bucharest in summary;

RIO – Regional Centre for Accommodation and Procedures for Asylum Seekers, the Block with the ground floor, 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th floors without Lift and No archway entrance for Disabled Patient . Address: Str. Vasile Stolnicu, nr.15, bl.13, sector 2, Bucurest, Romania

Most people in the buildings are men but there
are also couples and ‘vulnerable persons’ like single parents with very
small children, pregnant women and unaccompanied minors. There are also the sick, persons with disabilities, elderly persons, victims of torture.

• Prison or a cage for refugees/asylum seekers:

The Stolnicu Reception Centre(Regional Centre for Accommodation)is not designed to host asylum-seekers or refugees. It is like an old, damaged prison or a cage with not enough equipment. The residents group (Refugees/Asylum Seekers) complained about general living conditions.

According to Stolnicu Reception Centre rules, residents are allowed to stay out only from morning until 9 or 10 p.m.. they are not allowed
to live outside even if they have the financial means to afford it. If they overstay the permitted time outside, they claim that they were punished and prohibited to enter the Block even in winter and finally they were not allowed to stay in Stolnicu Reception Centre, and then they became homeless in the streets of Bucharest.

In their view, the Stolnicu Reception Centre rules negatively affected their
free movement. Even if a child was hungry in middle of the night the centre would not allow the residents to leave the centre between 10pm and 8am.

• No respect to privacy's right by Stolnicu Reception’s staff:

Another cause of dissatisfaction among asylum seekers/refugees is the unwillingness of some staff members to communicate with them and provide information. Some refugees/asylum seekers sent letters to the management complaining about excessive checks and the behaviour of the guards but have not received a reply.

Practically all groups complained that the guards excessively check their bags and perform body searches, mobile phone also taking photo from their personal papers or their stuff in the bed room. Also, they have the impression that certain groups of asylum seekers are scrutinised more rigorously than others, which is perceived as highly discriminatory behaviour.

They also pointed out the difficulties in communication with UNHCR and CNRR’s staff at the time of visit of Stolnicu Reception Centre.  

Refugees and asylum seekers were dissatisfied with UNHCR and CNRR for the censorship and the insufficiency of reports about their Deplorable Condition (Refugees/asylum seekers Life) in Romania.

Some refugees/asylum seekers sent requests to the Asylum Section, Romanian Immigration Office (RIO) complaining about deplorable conditions in Stolnicu Receptions Accommodation also about some staff members but they did not receive an answer. 

 

These issues were raised by many refugees and asylum seekers particularly ‘vulnerable persons’ who pointed out the mental stress caused to them by the atmosphere at Stolnicu Accommodation.

Non standard accommodation and sometimes unsafely: some refugees and asylum seekers(adults and children) suffered from an electric shock either once or several times occasionally (frequent electric shocks as a result of damp walls from broken pipes).

Image: "Frequent electric shock" at Stolnicu Reception Centre

There is no Fire Exit, no Fire Alarm (not even carbon monoxide alarm) inside the Block(Stolnicu Reception Centre) in case of an emergency situation where many people will be at the high risk such as injury or even death.

Lack of clean drinking water: safe and sustainable supply of water for drinking and sometimes for washing, cleaning and bath.

There is also sometimes a lack of heating in winter also heating water for the bath.

“water dripped through the electrics – we were electrocuted often. Children and families screamed. We lived in fear of the wild dogs who circled the camp, attacking and biting us. We were given no food; we had to go through bins in the town nearby for scraps.” Refugees and asylum seekers said.

Watch Video on YouTube:  Filthy water causes illness at Stolnicu Centre in Bucharest Romania, https://youtu.be/jEP6DZfc7Fg

 

Many asylum-seekers are dissatisfied with the quality of hygienic
items provided to them. Soaps that are irritating and itchy.

“The beds are shabby, noisy and old. When I finally fall
asleep, after 12 o’clock the terrible barks of stray dogs wake me up at midnight.”

Refugees and asylum seekers said that Romanian Members Staff at Reception Centres do not provide Cleaning Equipment like Bleach (Anti-bacterial), Liquid, Bin and Mop to clean the kitchen, toilet, sleeping room etc.

Watch Video on YouTube: Unhygienic kitchen of Stolnicu Centre in Bucharest, kitchen
Watch other Videos on YouTube:
Unhygienic Conditions Life at Stolnicu Centre in Bucharest, Extremely dirty kitchen and sleeping room

Unsafe Location and Fear of the Stray Dogs: the stray dogs who circled the camp, attacking and biting some refugees and asylum seekers(adults and children) at the campsite(yard), around the camp and on the streets. Also waking up the residents from sleep by terrible barks of stray dogs at midnight.

Since 2009, Refugee residents had warned the Stolnicu Reception’s Manager also the staff, the Asylum Section of Immigration Office (RIO), UNHCR and CNRR’s staff at the time of visit of Stolnicu Reception Centre over being attacked by stray dogs particularly for children that are in Bucharest or wherever they are in Romania also about unsafe block and the location but no one paid any attention. Refugee Families residents told them that "We do not want the stray dogs maul our children in Romania and we are deeply worry about their safety, our children are not dog food. Several times we saved our children and Romanian children from stray dogs attacks. The stray dogs must pick up from the streets in Romania immediately. We are feeling too scared due to the problem of stray dogs. We have to flee from Romania to Western and Northern Europe."

As a direct result of the failed resettlement and appalling refugee situation in Romania, the Kachin refugees from Myanmar have no choice but to flee to Denmark. Mrs. Maran Seng Ra a refugee mother of two children has died due to depression and serious illness on 30th September 2012 living in Vigso Feriencenter in Denmark Asylum Centre. According to her friends, she and her family were afraid to return to Romania. She was frequently mentioned how worried about the future of her two children if she was forced to return to Romania by the Danish immigration authorities under the European Union-Europe’s "Dublin Regulation".

[‘Protest in Bucharest over killing of four-year-old by stray dogs’

Hundreds of people gathered in the Romanian capital Bucharest on Sunday, to campaign for the euthanasia of the city’s stray dogs. The killing of a four-year-old by strays in a park has thrown a serious spotlight on the issue and led to calls for a cull on some sixty thousand dogs which roam the streets. Many held up placards saying, “We don’t want to be next.”
Aurica Anghe, the boy’s grandmother was among the demonstrators. She told euronews, “I hope for a change for the better. I don’t want to see dogs on the street anymore.”
In all, around 6,700 people were bitten over the first six months of 2013 alone in Bucharest.
by Euronews, last updated: 08/09/2013]

['Dogs Have Conquered Romania's Cities', ‘Government Neglected Issue for Years’

"A deadly dog attack on a four-year-old boy in Bucharest has brought new attention to an old problem: Romania's hundreds of thousands of stray dogs. ... Police later found the four-year-old boy in the bushes, half-eaten. Medical forensics experts later determined he had been bitten hundreds of times, and had bled to death from external injuries."
In recent days, parents have protested angrily in Bucharest under the motto, "We're not dog food!" Ionut's death is the main story being covered by the Romanian media these days, and it is the subject of a lively debate on Internet forums. A recent poll shows that three-quarters of Bucharest residents support killing the feral dogs. ...
The outrage is hardly surprising. The authorities estimate there are several hundred thousand street dogs roaming through Romanian cities and communities, including around 65,000 in Bucharest.

The Anti-Rabies Center at the Institute for Infectious Diseases has reported 10,000 people in the capital have been given immunizations after dog bites this year alone. Two-thousand of those patients were children. Last year, 16,000 residents of Bucharest reported being bitten by wild dogs -- 3,000 more than the year before. This recently prompted Romanian journalist Iulian Leca to write, "The street dogs have long since conquered Romania's cities. At night, especially, it is they and not the police who control the streets."
 
The deadly attack by feral dogs played out a week ago, and has drawn new public attention to a problem in Romania that has existed for years. Thousands of stray dogs have roamed the country's cities, and they are becoming increasingly dangerous.
 
And Ionut's death wasn't the first case suggesting the city needed to take urgent action. In 2012, a retired woman died in the northern Romanian city of Sathmar after a dog attack. Two months later, stray dogs killed a six-year-old boy in an eastern Romanian village. In January 2011, street dogs in Bucharest attacked a female employee of a recycling firm, and she died three days later of complications related to her injuries. In January 2006, a Japanese businessman bled to death in Bucharest after a dog bit him in the leg.
Reported by abcNews.]


No interpreters: Many refugees and asylum seekers said that there are no interpreters
for them. This negatively affects their access to social and medical assistance.

Many people who were interviewed complained that their monthly allowances do not cover their
material needs. They depend on a monthly allowance – equivalent to 70-80 cents of Euro per day- that does not cover even the most basic needs of a person living for only a few days in Romania.

In such circumstances there is no way to fund any needs beyond the
most basic ones. For example, parents reported that their children cannot participate in
any extra-curricular activities because they cannot afford the expenses.

Those living in these places cannot provide a suitable permanent address. A permanent address is a per-requisite for access to state health services.

Many of the complaints were related to health services also many residents suffer illnesses: Doctors and administrative staff in health care institutions sometimes reject refugees, be it for ignorance about their status or for language barriers. There were also systemic issues such as the obligation to pay a minimum medical fee when seeing a doctor, but the amount was too high for some of the refugees/asylum seekers to pay and they will not be able to pay for them. 

 "Poor health, no wealth, no food, no home, no permanent address" refugees residents said in Romania.

Our latest report on destitution uses the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers across Romania as a case study;

• Many refugees and asylum seekers report regular hunger – and hungry every day,
• Many refugees experiencing difficulties finding a home to live in,

• Refugees face obstacles to registration, access to education, employment, health care and bank accounts despite having access to temporary protection status.

Many refugees who had left Asylum Seekers Camp (Regional Centre for Accommodation and Procedures for Asylum Seekers in Romania) said that they are unemployed and at the same time they do not have any support allowance also they are homeless and do not have any accommodation for sleep (when asylum-seekers receive refugee status or some other form of protection, they have to leave the regional centres within a few months and find private accommodation) in addition they must pay rent monthly while they are staying at the refugee camp/s.

Many refugees left after the maximum stay of six months with neither work nor accommodation, that is to say, straight into homelessness and destitution. As a result, the majority find themselves fighting for survival for many years.
 

Those who do not have a permanent address will have great difficulty finding legal, socially insured employment. Most of the affected individuals who do employment work in insecure conditions with no employment contracts and often find themselves exploited. They are not insured in the case of unemployment or injury at work.

The lack of housing and the lack of a regular income make it almost impossible for refugees to bring their family to Romania.

There are refugees mother/father who couldn't bring their child/children and also wife/husband coudn't bring their partner for two, three, four, five, six, seven years or even more even though they recognized as a refugees statues(legal residence) in Romania. There are some refugees father couldn't see their new born baby ever.

Interviews with recognized refugees in Romania revealed much the same
problems as in the previous two, three, four, five, six, seven years or even more such as: No access to the Medical Health, No Job, No Home, No Permanent Address, No Food and No Hope.

Refugees cannot open a bank account in Romania.

They find it hard to get affordable accommodation because they are not entitled to social
housing.

However, refugees need a written contract to receive rental subsidies and to have an official permanent address which in turn is a prerequisite for obtaining a work permit.

Some refugees said that they are unemployed and do not have any allowance support therefore becoming vulnerable to exploitation.

Not surprisingly the interviews revealed that elderly persons with protection status face even more difficulties in finding a job and earning money. They are not able to accrue pension rights in Romania.

“Health, Jobs and Housing are Preconditions for Refugee Life”, Refugees and asylum Seekers said in Romania

 "Romania Government made so much promises to us before we reached in Romania, that they will provide us food, house and medication until we will get self sufficient to survive. But they did not keep their promises when we reached in Romania. We were not provided anything their promises. So we faced without house, without medication, and no enough food, unavailable job though we hunted many time. We faced a lot of difficulties and hardship. Therefore we went to Denmark for asylum. but the Danish authority said according to the agreement(Dublin Regulation)in European countries they cannot accept us." a father Kachin refugee from Myanmar said.

Listen to a father refugee in Romania on soundcloud.com/protectrefugees

Access to Health Services is very Difficult or impossible for Refugees

- In order to access free government healthcare in Romania, one must register with a family doctor and pay the health insurance fee monthly. Persons who have no income and can therefore not afford the health insurance fee cannot register with the family doctor. Consequently, they are unable to access adequate, free medical treatment when needed. Health insurance is also necessary when applying for long-term residence, which again is a pre-condition for Romanian citizenship.

Many refugees and asylum seekers said that there are no interpreters
for them. This negatively affects their access to social and medical assistance.

Many refugees said their health had worsened as result not able to access to the Medical Care.

“We are forced to live in deplorable conditions.” Refugees said in Romania.

 

Vulnerable cases face additional obstacles:

 

• Definition of vulnerable applicants in Romanian law: The 2011 modifications to the Aliens law introduced a description of ‘vulnerable persons’ encompassing, ‘children, unaccompanied children, persons with disabilities, elderly persons, pregnant women, single parent families with children, victims of torture, rape and other serious forms of physical, emotional or sexual violence’.
• Parents Concerned about Meals and Education of Children. Asylum Seekers Children cannot access to the school.
• Separated Children Need More Care and Counselling.

• Unaccompanied minors have often experienced complicated life situations accompanied by unpleasant and traumatizing events in their past.

• The protection situation is very poor. The children understand neither their rights nor their
  status.
• Children’s Fate Determined by Poverty. Also, poverty discrimination leads to increased aggressive behaviour’s children.
• Victims of Torture do not have any support from the Government.
• Lack of Identification of Vulnerable Groups by the UNHCR.
  
  
     
   
• Refugees who flee Romania for safety and security but when one of the EU’s Countries refusing their asylum seeker application under the European Union’s Dublin Regulation, she/he experiencing deplorable conditions life again and then facing the Deportation to Romania.
  
  
  Refugees only can travel to the EU’s countries and they do not have any rights such as;
  
  
  
• No permission for jobs,
• No official documents, is not allowed to work or study, and finds herself/himself filled with uncertainty and frustration,
• No access to the medical health care,
• No housing, food, education,
• Adult refugees also asylum seekers cannot reunited legally with their close relatives like mother, father, sister/s, brother/s or grand mother/s, grand father/s uncle/s, aunt/s.

• Refugees and asylum seekers informed us that, if a refugee or asylum seekers apply for asylum application in one of the EU’s Countries, she/he going to face the detention and then deportation to Romania and they will be in One of Immigration Detention Centers(or both) where they will be treated as a criminal.

Generally refugees suffer from unemployment, homelessness, hunger, pains of their mental/physical illnesses, even those have been torture victims in their home lands and/or in Romania.

Refugees must back to Romania every 2 or 3 years to renew their temporary residents, they must provide a formal of prove address like a legal contract rent for at least one year. if not the Romanian authorities will not review their residence document.

Not having a permanent address can also become problematic in a lot

of communes where the stay permit will not be extended without it. As a

result many persons with protection status run the risk of becoming “illegal”.

Refugees cannot renew their temporary resident or travel document in Romanian Embassies in the EU’s countries.