Romanian labor migration has become a widespread phenomenon in the last 16 years, after the fall of communism, representing one of the most important migration flows at the European level. While during the first years, Romanian workers preferred countries like Hungary, Germany or Israel as their main destinations, nowadays Italy and Spain represent the two most “attractive” countries, with numbers estimated at 800,000 and respectively 450,000 economic migrants.
Most of the Romanian migrants that work in Italy and Spain come from the poorest rural areas of the country. Usually, chain migration effects are formed in these regions, in the sense that if someone leaves to work abroad he/she will certainly help someone else to come in the same place for a similar job. The Schengen Agreement (2002) and the European Union accession (2007) made it easier for Romanians to work abroad.
Romania: a Last Resort Economic Solution for Its Emigrants
However, things are changing. Now that the global economic crisis has hit Europe, thousands of companies in Italy and Spain are laying off their employees. The most affected is the construction industry, which is the main area of activity for Romanian workers. The expected result was that the migrants would prefer to come back home and start small local businesses with the money they earned working abroad than to live on employment insurance abroad. This has not happened yet and the prediction is that the economic migrants will not return during the recession.
Although the Romanian government has organized employment fairs in Italy and Spain to attract migrants back home, these measures have not been effective, as Romanian workers have developed family ties in the host country (inter-ethnic marriages, chain migration) and are used to a higher compensation for the same amount of work they would perform in Romania, as well as better services for the taxes they pay: competitive schools, respectful institutions, and improved social programs. As Professor Dumitru Sandu says for Adevarul newspaper, "Romanian migrants will only come back if they have no other choice, no business opportunities or no relationships in other countries".
No Official Statistics on Return Migration
Meanwhile, the Romanian government has no expectations regarding the number of return migrants. There are no official statistics and the Ministry of Labor says that there are no inquiries about employment for return migrants. This confusion at the level of the government has not been created by the effects of the global economic recession. The lack of official statistics regarding the level of immigration and emigration was never on the list of priorities for the Romanian government. If the majority of migrants working abroad decide to go back to Romania, the most probable alternative for them is unemployment, as there are no databases regarding the potential job opportunities for those who return.
Irina-Raluca Ivan - Irina graduated from the Central European University (Hungary), with a Master's Degree in International Relations and European Studies, ...
