This conference has received support from SNSPA, UEFISCDI through PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2020-0338 and CIVICA Research. CIVICA Research has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101017201. Please visit this webpage for more information on the collaborative research projects funded by CIVICA Research.
S3 – Impact of migration on origin and destination countries
| Author(s) | Chair | Length | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anatolie Coșciug, Alexandra Voivozeanu, Vladimir Bortun, Deniz Pelek, Eva Østergaard-Nielsen, Brankica Todorovic, Janka Vogel, Monica Roman, Ioana Manafi, Elena Prada | Monica Roman | 24/09 | 9:00 | 120 mins |
- Author(s): Anatolie Coșciug, Alexandra Voivozeanu, Vladimir Bortun, Deniz Pelek, Eva Østergaard-Nielsen, Brankica Todorovic, Janka Vogel, Monica Roman, Ioana Manafi, Elena Prada
- Chair: Monica Roman
- Date: 24/09
- Time: 9:00
- Length: 120 mins
Papers
(Listed in order of presenters above)
To be or not to be a samsar. Understanding motivations for entrepreneurship among returnee transnational entrepreneurs trading used vehicles in Romania
×Even though the question of why return migrants enter entrepreneurship in general was relatively often raised in the extant body of research, there is still a need for more empirical studies specifically dealing with return migrants’ motivations to start transnational businesses. Thus, this article aims to understand how the decision to establish a new transnational business endeavour among returnees is created by using insights from 50 semi-structured interviews conducted with returnees involved in transnational trade with used cars imported in Romania, also a mass phenomenon in CEE area which is little studied.
An important result of this research is that the binary typology of opportunity vs. necessity driven entrepreneurs seems to partially overlook the dynamic nature of entrepreneurial motivations as they appear in this research. Thus, while some returnees seem to be 'pulled' or ‘pushed’ into entrepreneurship, several other entrepreneurs’ decision seem to be shaped by various other variables such as family traditions, socio-demographic traits, or previous involvement in various transnational activities.
Welfare brokers and EU free movers’ access to European social citizenship
×In accessing cross-border social rights, EU movers encounter barriers related to language, lack of knowledge of their entitlements and, at times, discriminatory practices at the administrative level. Against this background, the presentation explores the emergence of welfare brokers in the context of intra-EU migration – that is, non-profit, public sector and market actors that help migrants overcome barriers in accessing formal social protection. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with Romanian migrants in Germany, as well as with representatives of companies, civil society organizations and other types of intermediaries, this research addresses the following questions: How do welfare brokers shape the interaction between migrants and welfare states? What categories of brokers step in between migrants and social protection systems? How do migrants engage with welfare brokers?
Vectors of change? Returnee MPS and democratic diffusion in Turkey and Romania
×There is a growing literature on the political impact of migration on the country of origin. However, research on the nexus between migration and political elites is still limited. The existing literature on migration and political elites mostly deals with the impact of foreign educated heads of state on their countries’ democratisation and methodologically is overwhelmingly quantitative. Hence, there is a gap with regards to the processes of (re)socialisation and diffusion that may lie behind the political activities of a broader segment of the political elite such as returnee members of parliament (RMPs). Importantly, we also need to further understand the extent to which the particular context in the country of origin mediates any attempt of democratic diffusion.
Drawing on documentary research of legislative and non-legislative activities and qualitative interviews, we compare the democratic diffusion performed by RMPs from two countries with mass emigration to Western democracies but with different political systems and migration patterns, Romania and Turkey. More specifically, we contrast RMPs to non-RMPs in terms of the shares and the content of their parliamentary activities on three democracy-related themes: elections, gender and immigration. The paper argues that RMPs are more concerned with these themes. This is the case for RMPs in both Turkey and Romania, despite the differences between the two countries’ political systems and migration patterns.
Environmental migration – perspectives and problems
×Increasing numbers of the world's population, as well as, more frequent and accelerated climate change in the context of land degradation, have led to the environmental migrations. In this conditions to an increasing number of traditional refugees joining the growing number of people who can be classified as refugees on the basis of various factors.More recent perceptions of the causes of environmentally induced migration include a change in the framework through which population movements are influenced by climate change and environmental degradation, have been observed. Specifically, the last few years have seen the occurrence of this phenomenon through the affirmation of discourses that rest on the idea of a resilience strategy. The goals of the analysis in the paper are: (1) Economic effects of migration, especially in terms of impact on the labor market; (2) Ecological refugee growth trends; (3) Analysis of environmental migration and the potential impact on conflicts and crises. The objective of the analysis in this paper is to point that it necessarily requires urgent intervention at the level of the international community and the establishment of adequate international policy in the context of the environmental refugees.
Online diaspora – online integration? Digital street work with Romanian migrants in Germany
×This paper focusses on recent developments regarding Romanian migration to Germany. Three trends have created the need for pursue a new approach: First, the growing number of Romanians migrating to Germany, which has become an important destination country, namely the fourth most popular destination country for Romanians, after Italy, Spain and Great Britain. Approximately 700,000 Romanians are registered in Germany, most of them having immigrated fairly recently. Second, the substantial and increasing demand for integration support services. Orientation, information, understanding and accompaniment are highly needed when starting a new life in Germany. As the number of Romanians migrating to Germany increases, the demand for integration support services is expected to increase accordingly. Third, the significance of the Romanian diasporas’ online activities. Romanians abroad create new places and spaces. According to recent research ‘the internet is the quintessential diasporic medium’ (Bernal). We can speak about an ‘online diaspora’.
Given the importance that social media has for Romanian migrants, in this paper we discuss the following questions: What are the support needs of (newly arrived) Romanians in Berlin? Which integration problems can be solved online and how? How can bridges between online and offline integration support services be established?
We will elaborate how the newly developed approach of digital street work addresses these questions by taking into account the fundamental changes in the migration experience of Romanians in Germany over the last decade.
Comparative analysis of recent immigration from the Republic and Moldova and Arabic countries to Romania. A stakeholders’ perspective
×Romania is mainly perceived as a net emigration country, but during the last decade the number of immigrants significantly increased. However, Romania is still a transit country, but the transit may be shorter or longer depending on the reasons for migration. For instance, in the case of asylum seekers they would try to leave soon for other European destinations, while other young immigrants may opt for a longer stay or for studying in Romania. This paper presents the results obtained in the Horizon 2020 project EMpowerment through liquid Integration of Migrant Youth in vulnerable conditions (MIMY). The Romanian team runs two case studies driven by two criteria: location (Iasi and Bucharest) and target groups (migrants from the Republic of Moldova and from Arabic countries). The objective of this paper is to highlight the similarities and contrasts registered between immigrants from the Republic of Moldova and immigrants from Arabic countries from the perspective of the relevant stakeholders. We consider three main criteria for analysis: the institutional support provided for immigrants, factors of integration on the labour market, education, and society, as well as barriers to integration. The methodology of the paper relies on qualitative analysis, based on the data from 10 interviews that were conducted with relevant stakeholders in 2021. The result of the paper confirms different integration mechanisms for the two groups. Language is a relevant factor that acts differently for the two groups, while institutions have analogous impacts. The barriers are similar for young people, being mainly related to documents’ recognition and lack of family support. On the other hand, access to labour market and education seem to be easier for Moldovan youth than for asylum seekers.
