Terre des hommes Romania Foundation and JRS association have initiated a forum – Consultative Forum for Migrants in Romania – in order to protect migrants’ rights, help them integrate more easily and have a better representation in the host society. At present, the Forum comprises 10 migrant students aged between 18-22 years from Japan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Columbia, Syria, Peru, Afghanistan, Yemen, Ukraine, most of them studying in Romania with scholarships granted by the Romanian Government or Erasmus programme.
During the press meeting of 31 July 2023, the Forum teenagers shared their experience and explained that they work for the next generations to have an easier life, for helping other young foreigners who want to integrate in Romania.
The teenagers presented the challenges they had to face from the moment they arrived in Romania, from the Romanian language barrier up to the integration into the education system, healthcare and legal system. ”Although Romania is organised better than my country (Peru), I still have problems with the health system here. We don’t have a family physician system in my country, we just go to a local hospital where we are examined..... I had a national health insurance in Peru, but I had to wait for a month so that I becomes active in Romania,” said Nayeli, Bucharest University student.
The Forum migrants realised there is little to no information for foreign citizens about how to live in Romania, which makes them vulnerable and exposed to risks. They decided to improve this situation through meetings and discussions with Romanian authorities.
Farah, a young lady from Yemen, student at Bucharest University, Faculty of History – International Relations and European Studies, told us that within the Forum she activates on two directions: to facilitate migrant – physician communication, and to offer easier access for migrants to Romanian language courses. She also proposed to Romanian authorities the initiation of a platform/ application where English speaking physicians could register, so that foreign patients could contact them. ”Life is for the people who accept challenges”, she said in an optimistic voice, as she believes that her Forum colleagues’ efforts will bear fruit and will be useful to the future migrants in Romania.
The project experts carried out a research in order to better explain migrants’ situation to Romanian authorities, and drafted a Standard (https://shorturl.at/kmuyA) with four categories of recommendations: support and community relationship , direct services for migrants, resource management and institutional cooperation.
Through the PROMISE project – Protecting Unaccompanied Migrant Minors, developed in the period 2022-2023, Terre des hommes Foundation and JRS Romania (Jesuit Refugee Service) work together in order to inform public institutions with regard to child and youth migrant’s situation and to improve migrants’ access to services they can benefit from in Romania.
PROMISE project is implemented by Terre des hommes Foundation and JRS Association (Jesuit Refugee Service in Romania), with the financial support of Active Citizens Fund Romania, programme funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA Grants 2014-2021. The content of this material does not necessarily reflect the official position of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021. For more information, visit www.eeagrants.ro
Additional info about the project can be found on:
https://www.tdh.ro/en/promise-protecting-unaccompanied-migrant-minors
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