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The experience of a Cameroonian woman in Romania: "It is not easy to adapt here!"
Alexandra Mănăilă - Reporter
30 June 2015
The stories of immigrants who come to Romania seeking a new home can easily become film subjects. Some are sad stories, others, on the contrary, have a happy ending; in any case it is obvious they all reveal a harsh, painful reality which often leaves deep marks in some people's destinies. In most cases the foreigners' adaptation to the destination country is not easy at all, particularly because of their lack of language skills and of their uncertain residence status.
The story of Adeola (we will not use her real name as she chose to remain anonymous), a 28 year old woman from Cameroon, sounds like a telenovela, because everything spins around a betrayed love. It actually illustrates very well the condition of an immigrant in Romania.
Seduced in Cameroon and abandoned in Romania
Adeola fell in love with a Romanian youth who was on holidays in Africa. He proposed her to come to Romania, where they were going to get engaged, then to get married and to live happily. She followed the Romanian man blindly and even enrolled in the university, following his insistence and his offer to pay for her studies.
"I studied Political Sciences and my fiancee proposed to get married. But in the meantime I became pregnant", says Adeola, who gave birth to a girl. While the story so far is a normal one, once the baby was born, things took a turn for the worse for the foreign student and her daughter. The little girl, half Romanian (Cameroonian mother, Romanian father) was not recognised by her natural father, because he took to his heels and left Adeola to manage by herself, in a foreign country, with no money, no family but having to take care of a new-born baby, with no house, no completed studies and no clear legal status. So the young mother came to live with her baby in one of the state centres in Romania. "I can't pay to live in a house. I have stayed in the hostel for more than 3 years now. Most people who stay here complain about the conditions. They live 3-4 persons in a small room. (...) Romania should help immigrants, because they have no money, no job, they don't know the language", said the Cameroonian.
Romanian language, the main barrier to integration
Adeola does not speak Romanian, she only speaks very little. While she studied she did not try very hard with Romanian, because she was at the French language department. Later on, when she was in the last university year and unable to complete her studies (because her main sponsor, Adeola's boyfriend, cut her funding) she had to learn the language, at least the basics so as to be able to ask for support from people.
"It's very difficult to integrate when you don't speak the host country language. Learning the language in a one weekly class, as we get from the state free of charge, is totally insufficient. I speak very little Romanian, I don't have whom to speak to, because nobody in the hostel speaks Romanian", said the young woman.
On the one hand the courses provided by the Ministry of Education are indeed insufficient and are not adapted to immigrants' needs. On the other hand foreigners cannot find very easily a job as long as they do not speak the language, they cannot integrate in society, they cannot make Romanian friends.
The temporary stay visa, a problem for employment
While the Cameroonian lady managed in the end to solve the education issue, succeeding to complete the university studies and to get a diploma recognised by the Romanian state, as regards her legal status in Romania she is still waiting... She filed an asylum request and until she gets a response, her stay visa is renewed on a monthly basis. This is another reason why she can't find a job. Employers actually do not conclude work contracts based on documents valid for one month, because they don't want to bother.
"I found a few jobs, but it was not convenient for me to work without a contract. The current system in Romania does not provide food and housing and for this reason many refugees leave the country, because they have not adapted here. The Government should allocate more funds for refugees and immigrants in Romania. It is not easy to adapt here, for this reason the government should help immigrants", believes Adeola. However a new ray of hope arises for the Cameroonian lady and her little girl.
"My girl is Romanian. The lawsuit for having the paternity recognised has been under way for 3 years", said Adeola, who even won the paternity lawsuit. The court admitted that the Romanian man is the father of the Cameroonian's girl, therefore the child's birth certificate will have to be changed. When the child has a Romanian birth certificate, it will be much easier for the mother to clarify her legal stay in her capacity of family member of a Romanian citizen. This way Adeola will have higher chances to adapt in Romania.
The story of Adeola (we will not use her real name as she chose to remain anonymous), a 28 year old woman from Cameroon, sounds like a telenovela, because everything spins around a betrayed love. It actually illustrates very well the condition of an immigrant in Romania.
Seduced in Cameroon and abandoned in Romania
Adeola fell in love with a Romanian youth who was on holidays in Africa. He proposed her to come to Romania, where they were going to get engaged, then to get married and to live happily. She followed the Romanian man blindly and even enrolled in the university, following his insistence and his offer to pay for her studies.
"I studied Political Sciences and my fiancee proposed to get married. But in the meantime I became pregnant", says Adeola, who gave birth to a girl. While the story so far is a normal one, once the baby was born, things took a turn for the worse for the foreign student and her daughter. The little girl, half Romanian (Cameroonian mother, Romanian father) was not recognised by her natural father, because he took to his heels and left Adeola to manage by herself, in a foreign country, with no money, no family but having to take care of a new-born baby, with no house, no completed studies and no clear legal status. So the young mother came to live with her baby in one of the state centres in Romania. "I can't pay to live in a house. I have stayed in the hostel for more than 3 years now. Most people who stay here complain about the conditions. They live 3-4 persons in a small room. (...) Romania should help immigrants, because they have no money, no job, they don't know the language", said the Cameroonian.
Romanian language, the main barrier to integration
Adeola does not speak Romanian, she only speaks very little. While she studied she did not try very hard with Romanian, because she was at the French language department. Later on, when she was in the last university year and unable to complete her studies (because her main sponsor, Adeola's boyfriend, cut her funding) she had to learn the language, at least the basics so as to be able to ask for support from people.
"It's very difficult to integrate when you don't speak the host country language. Learning the language in a one weekly class, as we get from the state free of charge, is totally insufficient. I speak very little Romanian, I don't have whom to speak to, because nobody in the hostel speaks Romanian", said the young woman.
On the one hand the courses provided by the Ministry of Education are indeed insufficient and are not adapted to immigrants' needs. On the other hand foreigners cannot find very easily a job as long as they do not speak the language, they cannot integrate in society, they cannot make Romanian friends.
The temporary stay visa, a problem for employment
While the Cameroonian lady managed in the end to solve the education issue, succeeding to complete the university studies and to get a diploma recognised by the Romanian state, as regards her legal status in Romania she is still waiting... She filed an asylum request and until she gets a response, her stay visa is renewed on a monthly basis. This is another reason why she can't find a job. Employers actually do not conclude work contracts based on documents valid for one month, because they don't want to bother.
"I found a few jobs, but it was not convenient for me to work without a contract. The current system in Romania does not provide food and housing and for this reason many refugees leave the country, because they have not adapted here. The Government should allocate more funds for refugees and immigrants in Romania. It is not easy to adapt here, for this reason the government should help immigrants", believes Adeola. However a new ray of hope arises for the Cameroonian lady and her little girl.
"My girl is Romanian. The lawsuit for having the paternity recognised has been under way for 3 years", said Adeola, who even won the paternity lawsuit. The court admitted that the Romanian man is the father of the Cameroonian's girl, therefore the child's birth certificate will have to be changed. When the child has a Romanian birth certificate, it will be much easier for the mother to clarify her legal stay in her capacity of family member of a Romanian citizen. This way Adeola will have higher chances to adapt in Romania.
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