Romanians are now the second largest group of non-British nationals in the UK, following Poles. More than 400,000 Romanians live in the UK, more than double the number before 2014, when restrictions on the UK labour market lifted (seven years after Romania joined the European Union).
Nevertheless, in spite of these numbers, Romanians are not out to “flood” the UK. They are leaving their county in hordes, moving to wherever there is an opportunity. In Italy and Spain (Latin countries with similar languages), Romanians have been the largest group of non-nationals for a while.
According to data from the United Nations, 3.6 million Romanians live abroad, compared with about 20 million left in the country (among EU countries, its diaspora is fourth largest, after the UK, Poland and Germany). Romania is expected to lose more than 15% of its population by 2050. The annual growth rate of its diaspora is among the world’s highest.
So why are Romanians fleeing? Despite the country joining the EU, which was expected to bring prosperity and a better quality of life, 11 years after accession Romanians are still running from poverty. According to Eurostat, more than a third of Romanians are at risk of poverty and social exclusion and almost half of the country’s children are borderline poor. More than 225,000 children go to sleep hungry, according to the charity World Vision Romania. The situation is desperate in rural areas.
When migrants are asked why they have left home, the most common reply is that they want to offer better lives to their children. Parents leave at great personal cost: researchers have recently found that Romanian migrant women working in domestic and care work in western Europe are commonly affected by deep depression (this is now called “the Italian syndrome”).
People can’t provide for their kids at home not because they are lazy: Romanians stay poor despite working hard. Almost one third of Romanian employees are on the minimum wage and another fifth are on precarious contracts that offer below that rate. Following the collapse of communism in 1989, Romania turned into a typical peripheral country: it lured foreign investors with cheap labour and easy access to natural resources and tax breaks. This was the model many eastern European countries were persuaded to apply in those days. And in Romania there’s been no serious attempt to change it since.
The mismanagement of the country has been obvious, under various political forces. Money made available by the EU has been squandered and long-term planning is merely a theoretical notion. Education and healthcare, alongside other key parts of the public sector, were left to rot. Without these, life in Romania becomes a form of violence for the most vulnerable – imagine not being able to send your kids to school because you can’t afford supplies, going to hospitals where you have to buy your own bandages and medicine, or not being able to heat your home. These things are not unique to Romania, but they are commonplace in my home country.
It’s hard to avoid the feeling that politicians seek power merely to fill their pockets. The country is ruled by the Social-Democratic party, whose leader, Liviu Dragnea, was indicted last year for fraud (to secure EU funds). He’s one of a long series of high-level politicians from across the political spectrum accused or convicted of corruption.
Mass emigration has only compounded the problems. One notorious example is the healthcare system: tens of thousands of Romanian health workers now practise abroad, including 3,775 for the NHS, leaving Romanians in severely understaffed and underfunded clinics. In 2010, during the economic crisis, Romanian workers were slapped with some of the toughest austerity measures in Europe, including cuts of 25% in public sector wages. These were gloomy times when, again, many decided to leave.
Years later, a massive wave of civic mobilisation – against a gold mine at Rosia Montana, in protest against a fire at the nightclub Colectiv, and later against corruption – seemed to amount to a strong call for a new kind of politics. But the hope back then has since given way to scepticism. Political alternatives are slow to emerge. The governing Social Democrats, the predominant political force, are flirting with illiberalism. Trust in politicians and institutions is at rock bottom.
The migrants are usually the young and active, whose energy and idealism is therefore lost to Romanian society, economy and politics. Right now, it is badly needed. Any emerging political force that is serious about improving the situation must find ways to stop this exodus. The 400,000 Romanians in the UK are a great loss for Romania, above all.
• Claudia Ciobanu is a freelance reporter covering central and eastern Europe. Her articles have appeared on Reuters and al-Jazeera among others