Youth Bridges to Reach Efficient European Citizenship Awareness YBRECA Youth Bridges to Reach Efficient European Citizenship Awareness WORKSHOP: European Intercultural Communication – Means of raising European Citizenship Awareness Assoc. Prof. PhD. Christina Barbu Project Manager - Number of refugees Romania - Policy - Is the refugee question a European task?

Number of refugees in your country A RECENT OPINION POLL (INSCOP-Jan 2015): 56.2 % believe that Romania should not accept any refugees, only 35 % agree with letting in some immigrants. 82 % of those who think that Romania should receive refugees say that the country should establish its own quota and not be forced to accept a figure set by the EU. Less than 15 % believe that Romania should accept the number of refugees demanded by the EU.

Number of refugees in your country Yet, Romania has not been hit by the wave of refugees and migrants crossing the Balkans towards Western Europe.  Only 913 people applied for asylum last year 12 per cent more than in 2014 Authorities detained at the border 60 people who were trying to enter illegally across Romania's south-west border from Serbia, the largest such group in recent years. The migrants, aged between 20 and 40, came from Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and Morocco.

Policy “The first ones, around 300, will come from Italy early next month, and then their number will increase by 50 every month.” (Mircea Mocanu - chief of the International Organisation for Migration for Romania).  Romania is to open three new centres for refugees, in addition to the existing six centres, which have a total capacity for only 1,500 places, according to official data.

Policy ”The government is ready to accommodate them, there is money for this.” (Mircea Mocanu - chief of the International Organisation for Migration for Romania) "I still believe the mandatory quotas are not a solution to Europe's migrant crisis. But the number of refugees Romania must receive is not large. It is manageable and I think Romania must show solidarity.” (President Klaus Iohannis said in September)

Is the refugee question a European task? The Refugee Crisis Will Reshape the EU People in need should be helped Refugees can also be a danger for European culture The refugees problem require immediate and concrete actions (housing, employment, training)

References http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/romania-under-increasing-pressure-from-refugees-01-18-2016 http://www.assembly.coe.int/nw/xml/XRef/Xref-XML2HTML-en.asp?fileid=241&lang=en