We discussed with Rodica Novac, the president of Conect association, about the funding of nongovernmental organizations which are working directly with migrants, about the difficult situation of migrants on the labour market and about the public discourse on migration and its negative impact on the everyday lives of foreigners living in Romania


Tell me, for how long have you been working in the field of migration and what kind of projects runs your association?
We are working in migration for 6 years now, and all projects which have provided direct services to migrants were financed by the European Fund for Integration, through the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI). We also participated as partner in European projects undertaken by the European Network SOLIDAR together with its members, funded directly by the European Commission. But those were generally projects related to public policy, advocacy, and information.

It means that you have projects that provide direct services to migrants and other projects.

Yes, projects with direct services for migrants, and other projects financed by the European Commission. In our projects we provided almost all types of services: Romanian language courses, counseling and information, material assistance, legal assistance, training for Romanian citizenship. In one of the projects we have offered also training to migrants.
Since June last year, we function on a voluntary basis. We continue to provide services although we have no funding.

So currently you offer services voluntarily, without funding?
This is happening not only to us. The majority of nongovernmental organizations in the area are getting through this situation. It is very difficult.

We decided not to apply to the call launched in January because the indicators established by the General Inspectorate for Immigration were very difficult to achieve. We have no financial and institutional capacity to apply. It is impossible to find for a migrant, in less than two months, a job that will enable him to pay rent, utilities, kindergarten for his children and so on.

Tell me about foreigners who have been in special circumstances and who you’ve helped. You said you provided different services: guidance, advice, assistance.
There are many specific cases. For example, I can tell you the story of a Filipino who was married to a Romanian citizen. She was married for seven years, so she had the right to require permanent residence but she didn’t because being married to a Romanian entitled her to enough rights, so she considered useless to go through all the bureaucratic procedures. But her husband died suddenly while playing tennis and she found herself in the situation that she couldn’t stay in Romania any longer.

And how did the story end?
We provided her with legal assistance. She challenged in court the return decision issued by the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) and eventually won, but it is an absolutely exceptional situation. This woman went through terrible difficulties. She had a job but when she applied for permanent residence with IGI, she found out that the employer ceased her employment contract without noticing her. This is why the Inspectorate has decided to expel her because at that time she didn’t have a job. Since then, we repeatedly asked the Ministry of Labor and the Inspectorate of Territorial Labor (ITM) to create a system, so that anyone could check online if his or her employment contract is still active, a similar system to that in place with health insurances. […] In Romania there is this bizarre condition (as foreign citizen) - if one wants to practise certain professions, he/she must be married to a Romanian citizen […]. The diploma is recognized but you can’t practise.
We face a paradox: we have very qualified people - in the case of doctors, a lot of people who graduate from Romanian universities, but with no license to practise.
[…] Although they are very skilled, if they can’t work, they can’t survive, and that prevents them from having a decent standard of living in Romania. We also have people who are not qualified and fail to find a job in Romania. So, basically, if you're a migrant, it doesn’t mean that you’re in advantage.

Please tell me a bit about what’s happening now in terms of public opinion in Romania. How do you feel about the fact that immigrants are more and more rejected by the public opinion?

We are concerned about the leaders’ and intellectuals’ public discourse, and I think they have no idea about the impact of their speech. On the other hand, we are concerned about the lack of response of governmental institutions, like the National Council for Combating Discrimination, and about the fact that they do not sanction any speech coming from a politician or a public authority. It is an irresponsible speech because Romania has absolutely no reason to fear. Romania is not seen as a country of destination; migrants refuse to come to Romania. The percentage of migrants in Romania of total population is approximately 0.002%, so there is no justification for fear. There are migrants who were refused at the barber or kicked out from the taxi only on the grounds that they were foreigners. There are migrants who are not welcomed anymore in the cafeteria where they used to sit and drink coffee for years. It is very difficult to sanction these situations, because people complaint only when it is something really serious.