As the inflow of refugees from Syria to Europe grew, Romanian
\nsociety reacted with debates and polemics. Officially, Romania committed to
\ntaking in 6,200 refugees through the EU relocation program. Socially, the
\nsituation of refugees sparked disputes, but also empathy, mostly for women and
\nchildren. In 2013, photo journalist Ioana Moldovan went to the Jordanian camp
\nfor Syrian refugees in Zaatari. Back then, people did not consider moving further,
\nand had even settled there, in a manner of speaking. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ioana Moldovan: The Zaatari camp had already become a small town, it had
\na street with small shop and taverns, called
\nmockingly ‘Champs Elysees’. It was surprising to me to see developing a
\ncommunity of around 120,000 people who, running away from a war, were trying,
\none way or another, to make a new life for themselves. Some lived in tents,
\nothers in containers, the kind workers live in on construction sites, made to
\nlook more or less as a home does. I did notice one thing: in Zaatari, people
\nhad some hope to go back home soon, but the refugees on the way to Europe had
\nnone of that hope.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ioana Moldovan accompanied the refugees on their trip to Europe,
\nthrough Greece, Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia, aiming for the promised land
\nthat they believed Germany was, without even knowing how things would turn out
\nto be there. They just wished for a better life for them and their families, as
\nIoana Moldovan told us: <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I think I was most impressed by their determination,
\ncourage and staunchness, because you need all this to start on such a road, to
\ngo through this ordeal, to endure sleepless nights, cross the sea in an
\ninflatable boat. In my experience with them, I don’t think I’ve encountered any
\npessimism. I saw fatigue, frustration, but I don’t think I saw pessimism.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the first wave of migration, mainly men arrived to the shores of
\nEurope, but now there are mostly women and children arriving, adding to the
\ntragedy. Ioana Moldovan’s photos have captured their plight: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
If in the refugee camps the women, especially mothers,
\ncreated for themselves and their families a sort of environment that felt
\nsomewhat like home, where they could manage their lives, on the way to Europe
\nthis becomes almost impossible. For a long while, access to toilets was
\nimpossible, or to proper hygiene. I saw mothers with babies who had to change
\ndiapers on a train or in the open field.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Last year, after seeing what gets posted on social media, Alina
\nPetcu quit her job with a state company, where she worked as an economist, and
\nwent to Lesbos. The island where she used to spend her vacations had turned
\ninto a refugee camp: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The first few days I went to a camp for vulnerable
\nindividuals, people who had lost relatives during the boat crossing, including
\nchildren orphaned for the same reason. Then I went to the north of the island,
\nto Molyvos, where I joined a volunteer association. I worked a lot in the
\nharbor there and in a transit camp. This was the first stop for refugees, and
\nafter that they were directed to the capital of the island for registration.
\nThey stayed in Molyvos for only a few hours, unless they spent the night there.
\nVolunteers worked 24\/7, in shifts.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Alina was most impressed by the women in the camp who managed to act
\nalmost normal under those terrible circumstances. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
When I got there, I saw these women were just like us.
\nThey came from all social strata, some had no education at all, while others
\nwere professionals, like physicians or pharmacists. A few days before I left, a
\nwoman with a husband and a child gave birth right as she landed in Greece. A
\nvolunteer who had never done that before acted as a midwife. She gave birth
\nright there, on the stones, surrounded by people, and a physician joined in
\neventually. I also met a lot of women who had left by themselves. They had been
\nstudents, and they were seeking a better life. They didn’t wear the hijab, they
\nseemed quite cosmopolitan.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In line with the EU relocation mechanism, Romania has so far taken in 139 refugees. However,
\nRomania’s effort to integrate asylum seekers is wider, according to Ana Neamtu,
\nexpert with the General Immigration Inspectorate.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ana Neamtu: In parallel with this mechanism, Romania prepares for an
\ninflux of migrants at its borders, which means setting up camps referred to as
\n‘integration centers’, managed by the border police. In addition, Romania
\ncontinues to have a continuous influx of migrants, which is on a slightly
\nrising trend. In 2015 we had around 1,200 asylum applications, about the same
\nas in the previous two years. In 2015, about 500 people applied for one form of
\nprotection or another from the Romanian state. In the last two years, most
\nasylum seekers who successfully applied for protection were Syrian. Romania has
\n6 centers for asylum seekers and refugees, housing 1,700, and is preparing to
\nopen more if need be.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The situation of women refugees has the attention of the European
\nParliament, which has recently passed a report on the issue of gender in asylum
\npolicies and procedures. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the inflow of refugees from Syria to Europe grew, Romanian society reacted with debates and polemics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":65517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[29237],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-141829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-refugees"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n