COVID-19 in Romania: transnational labour, geopolitics, and the Roma ‘outsiders’

Abstract

COVID-19 has played out in Romania in a similar way to that in many other European countries. The government implemented decisive early measures which were able to keep the infection and mortality rates relatively low. This paper considers three distinctive aspects of the situation in Romania. First, the situation was complicated by the influence of transnational migrant workers, large numbers of whom returned to Romania when the pandemic started, accounting for distinct geographical variations in the rates of infection. At the same time, large numbers were able to leave the country at the height of the pandemic because they were "needed" for lowpaid agricultural/social care work in western European countries. Second, the pandemic placed tension on Romania's relationship with the EU, whilst highlighting a number of existing issues between Romania and its neighbors. Third, Romania's strict lockdown measures exacerbated long-standing internal tensions, particularly with regard to the large and marginalized Roma community. The paper concludes by considering some of the possible longer-term implications for Romania of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic: Impacts on cities and major lessons for urban planning, design, and management

“…They concluded that not only COVID-19 may have exacerbated pre-existing social disparities, but also has created new forms of inequalities, posing economic burdens for people living in epicenters, infected individuals, and families with COVID-19 patients. Similar arguments have been made by Creţan and Light (2020) and Krzysztofik et al (2020) in Romania and Poland, respectively. They argued that it is more likely for the poorest people and most marginalized regions to experience broader social and economic damages due to the pandemic.…”

“…They argued that it is more likely for the poorest people and most marginalized regions to experience broader social and economic damages due to the pandemic. Migrant workers are another vulnerable group that have been disproportionately affected ( Creţan and Light, 2020 ). Predicting a period of recession and rising unemployment in both Western and Eastern European countries, Creţan and Light (2020) pointed out that transnational employment opportunities may be dramatically reduced in Western Europe, while the recession may cause more Romanians to pursue work in other EU countries, and may also result in greater dependence among those who stay in the country on remittances sent by the migrant workers.…”

“…Migrant workers are another vulnerable group that have been disproportionately affected ( Creţan and Light, 2020 ). Predicting a period of recession and rising unemployment in both Western and Eastern European countries, Creţan and Light (2020) pointed out that transnational employment opportunities may be dramatically reduced in Western Europe, while the recession may cause more Romanians to pursue work in other EU countries, and may also result in greater dependence among those who stay in the country on remittances sent by the migrant workers. Overall, since some societal sections such as poor and marginalized groups are hit harder by the pandemic, they should receive special attention when designing and implementing post-pandemic recovery programs ( Qian and Fan, 2020 ).…”

What are the Factors affecting Tourist Behavior based on the Perception of Risk? Romanian and Serbian Tourists’ Perspective in the Aftermath of the recent Floods and Wildfires in Greece

“…The new "era of catastrophes" [12] is shaped by new and concatenated risks [13][14][15] in our unprecedented dynamic and interconnected world. The palette of the current crisis generated by COVID-19 pandemic is completed daily with new challenges whose complexity has never been encountered by humanity: the economic costs, as well as the heavy losses of human lives [16][17][18][19] are overlapped with major dysfunctions of health systems [20,21], transnational labor migration crisis [22,23], social stigma and racism [24,25], or geopolitical reassessments [26,27]. Even certain beneficial environmental impacts of the quasi-generalized outbreak of the 2020 spring have already been recorded [28][29][30], the governments will be faced with potential intersections and collisions of the current pandemic with other regional and global crises, generated especially by climatic and geopolitical stressors [31][32][33].…”

Pandemopolitics. How a public health problem become a geopolitical and geoeconomic issue

“…Everyone has tried to take advantage of globalization, where a cheap product has meant much-desired abundance and turned a blind eye to obvious social injustices: overworked employees, underpaid workers, and children working for a few pennies. This is the fertile soil in which pandemopolitics has been molded and which affects not only the states, but, especially, the poorest populations (Mayer and Lewis 2020, 17), whether they live in rich or less rich states (Creţan and Light 2020). In both the United States and France the highest mortality rates were recorded in the poorest cities and neighborhoods, heavily populated with marginalized and socially segregated people of color.…”