Romanians legal migrants are making headlines with violent incidents

Italy and Spain are the favorite destinations for Romanians looking for a better living. Having Romanians at work is beneficial for the economy but in recent months an increasing number of crimes committed by Romanian citizens have made headlines in Italian and Spanish media. Iulian Muresan, from Radio Romania International reports from Bucharest.

Romania joined the European Union on January the 1st 2007. Initially the West feared a massive wave of immigration from Romania and Bulgaria. It wasn’t really like that. Romanians have continued to go to work in Italy and Spain as they used to do before Romania’s entry in the EU. But in recent months, Italian and Spanish newspapers have abounded in rather unflattering articles about the Romanian community there, which is the biggest foreign community in Italy, numbering according to official figures half a million Romanians. Miruna Cajvaneanu is Romanian freelance journalist who has lived and studied in

Last week a Romanian set himself ablaze in Catellon, Spain. Desperate that he couldn’t get a job the 44 year old man set fire to himself in a public square, in front of his wife and kids. Now he’s in hospital suffering from serious burns. I asked Romania’s general consul in Sevilla, Mrs. Monica Stirbu, what is the Romanian state doing to help these people:

“Every week-end we to areas with a high concentration of Romanians to issue their papers and permits on the spot so that they don’t have to drive 1000 kms to Sevilla. We also visit prisons and help Romanians involved in criminal suits with legal advise and so on.”

In recent months the Romanians in Italy have made the headlines with violent incidents. In April, a Romanian prostitute killed an Italian woman with an umbrella, then another Romanian man killed an old couple with an axe. And recently, famous Italian film director Giuseppe Tornatore, winner of an Oscar for the best foreign film with his “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso”, was robbed by two Romanians. Miruna Cajvaneanu says Rome is not as safe as it used to be before the arrival of the immigrants. And according to her, the number of Romanians in prisons says a lot about criminality rates attributed to Romanian immigrants.

The inhabitants of Rome, are not very happy with the situation. Nor are the Romanians. The latter blame the ethnic Roma for most evil doings. They blame them for ruining the reputation of the hardworking Romanians, who are turning an honest penny abroad. Miruna Cajvaneanu:

Both the Romanians in Romania and those working abroad claim the very term “Roma” is misleading, as it resembles the word Romanian. Therefore many Romanians would rather use the term gypsy. Which they do, on every forum, after a piece of news about the latest crimes committed by the ethnic Roma in Italy, you can read dozens of racist comments posted by frustrated Romanians, gloating over the fact that Europe has to deal now with a problem with which the Romanians have struggled for decades.

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Tags crime, foreign workers, free movement of workforce, italy, romania, spain

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