Exploring Hidden Costs of Seasonal Migration in Agriculture within Roma Communities of Origin: Evidence from Romania
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Seasonal Migration in Europe: Current Challenges
1.2. The Romanian Seasonal Migration: The Perspective of the Origin Country
1.3. Roma Population in Romania and Seasonal Migration
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
3.1. Individual Level
Well, many people are engaged in migration, because they are not satisfied with the wages here in Romania. What can they do with 15 million [about 300 EUR], and a 2–3 million [about 50–75 EUR] bonus in a month? Over there, in a month, they bring in three times what their salary is here—it is quite substantial. Going abroad suits them better because they earn much better there, even with the same salary they would get in Romania… They work for two or three months there, the money they make lasts for about a month here, and then it’s the same cycle again.(Type of interview—key actor, Age 30)
[Interviewer] And do you happen to know, did any of them drop out after elementary school [end of fourth grade] before middle school?
Some of them dropped out, yes! …but because of the parents… the parents went abroad and the grandparents, well… they didn’t send them to school anymore… so migrating abroad has a significant impact on children.(Type of interview—key actor, Age 48)
It’s very difficult… To tell you the truth, I go to the store many times. Do you think I came back without any meat? Because it’s incredibly expensive. Well, when I think about having to pay for electricity, TV cable, and water… And not just now, for instance, if the children weren’t working [abroad], what would I use to pay? I have no income. I am fortunate that they go away and send money home to cover everything.(Type of interview—Roma individual, Age 54)
… two years ago, I was in Denmark, and I tell you honestly, with my hand on my heart, that we used to go and search for carrots, peppers, vegetables—we would take them from the trash can. And I used to wash them because it was very expensive; with the money we earned there, we couldn’t afford it, as I also had to send money to my children and grandchildren in the country. And I genuinely tell you that some took expired meat and salami, even if it was two- or three-days past expiration—they would take the meat. But I didn’t take meat. I couldn’t do that. There were about 400 Romanians all together… Poor us! There were no proper conditions, nothing. I stayed and endured because living here in Romania is very difficult.(Type of interview—Roma individual, Age 54)
There are many who went abroad and came back dead.(Type of interview—Roma individual, Age 52)
3.2. Family Level
They did not let the child attend education because they were somewhere … in the sheepfold and they took the children with them and because of that they interrupted … the educational cycle, because of that…pity, pity(Type of interview—key actor, Age 48)
… If he [the husband] is away and I want to go somewhere with my father-in-law, I can. But if there is a wedding, a christening, or events, and he is not at home, no. It is not considered very appropriate for a woman to walk alone… It’s somewhat frowned upon for a woman to go without her man.(Type of interview—Roma individual, Age 27)
In the case of a young man… The time for marriage came, and he took a young girl, but not from his village, from another village, and they didn’t get along… every time he went abroad, she would run to her parents, and he was unhappy about this. He noticed it once, twice, and tried to have a family meeting… The point is, one day, she went to her parents and didn’t come back. When he returned from abroad, he tried to go get her back. The family didn’t agree anymore. And so, to put it that way, a dispute began.(Type of interview—Key actor, Age 47)
During the pandemic time it was very difficult for them. Whereas before, they could work as daily laborers in the summer or anytime during the year, during the pandemic, due to restrictions, they couldn’t even work as daily laborers anymore, because, you know, it was like that time when the police were checking everywhere, which… And then, almost all of them were close to starving. Abroad, they couldn’t go anymore because the borders were closed. They couldn’t work as daily laborers anymore either, due to the situation with the restrictions that were in place. So, it was an extremely tough period for them. There were times back then when they almost had nothing to put on the table, they couldn’t even come to beg in Sibiu because they couldn’t… the police would catch them.(Type of interview—Key actor, Age 47)
Those who are left are old, they are old, and they are lonely, they must be visited, they have to … they are helpless, some are barely moving around the house…(Type of interview—Key actor, Age unknown)
3.3. Community Level
the oldest, the sick, those who still have a helper remain … Now no one works anymore, the land is not worked anymore either—no one has dinner anymore, all the young people have left. Old people can’t do it anymore.(Type of interview—Roma individual, Age 52)
I wouldn’t go anywhere else; I don’t like going abroad. I grew up here, and I’ve stayed here. I prefer being at home… Here, you know everyone personally, and this is home. I believe that those who work hard can earn money, and they don’t need to go abroad for that. However, perhaps people have different ideas, and they chase after money, losing touch with life—they’re just chasing money.(Type of interview—Roma individual, Age 33)
You see, it’s not long before this community will be divided into two classes—a wealthier one when people return with income from abroad, and a poorer one. Do you understand what I’m saying? Envy naturally emerges…(Type of interview—Key actor, Age 45)
The community has changed a lot in the last 15 years… Here are people who work very hard… but I believe they were disadvantaged because I think even the municipality did not invest in them. They still have unpaved roads. Many have worked abroad and have properly set up their homes.(Type of interview—Key actor, Age unknown)
4. Discussion
Limits of the Study
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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County | Brief Locality Description | Total Interviews | Interviews with Roma Individuals | Interviews with Key Stakeholder |
---|---|---|---|---|
Sibiu | S1. A village with about 1300 residents, the majority of whom are Roma as “self-identified” and “heteroidentified” Roma. The Roma population is segregated in the area bordering the village, towards the end of the village, but they also live in other areas of the village. | 50 | 30 | 20 |
S2. A village with about 600 Roma out of 900 residents. A significant part of them wear traditional clothing and respect Roma traditions. | 21 | 16 | 5 | |
Valcea | VL1. A small city with 9000 residents, including approximately 1400 Roma. The Roma population is spread throughout the city, but a few hundred live in a segregated community. | 28 | 22 | 6 |
VL2. A rural municipality with about 5000 residents, including 1800 Roma. A part of the Roma population is composed of descendants of slaves from the monasteries. The Roma community can be found all over the commune, but there is also a segregated community. | 24 | 17 | 7 |
Community | S1 | S2 | VL1 | VL2 | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age | ||||||
18–29 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 18 | |
30–39 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 16 | |
40–49 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 26 | |
50–59 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 20 | |
60–69 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 21 | |
70–79 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 10 | |
80–89 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
N.R. | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |
TOTAL | 50 | 21 | 28 | 24 | 123 |
Thematic Codes Arising from the Coding of All References to the Effects of Migration | Number of Words Coded | Number of Paragraphs Coded | |
---|---|---|---|
Effects at individual level | Economic earnings from abroad and their roles in individual’s life | 1284 | 63 |
Negative effects of migration on individuals’ health | 1017 | 31 | |
Lack of social protection and pensions in relation to migration | 867 | 36 | |
Disruption of educational pathways due to migration (including school dropout) | 1778 | 74 | |
Effects at family level | Childcare or elderly care taken over by the extended family (mostly during certain periods of the year) | 6532 | 280 |
Tensions and conflicts within families caused by migration | 2009 | 60 | |
Roma women—social isolation and additional social pressure placed on women (mostly during certain periods of the year) | 398 | 17 | |
Exacerbation of family vulnerability—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic due to obstacles arising in seasonal migration | 577 | 5 | |
Effects at community level | Depopulation of the community due to the departure of young people (mostly during certain periods of the year) | 3376 | 231 |
Process of ethnic (re)stratification at the community level | 868 | 15 | |
Lack of community support networks and the absence of physical-presence-dependent assistance (mostly during certain periods of the year) | 569 | 37 | |
The presence of negative attitudes towards those involved in migration within the community | 1024 | 42 | |
Absence of satisfactory job opportunities within the community (cause and effect of departures)—people leave due to lack of employment, but in the absence of a workforce, businesses cannot develop | 1802 | 87 |
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Corman, S.; Croitoru, A. Exploring Hidden Costs of Seasonal Migration in Agriculture within Roma Communities of Origin: Evidence from Romania. Societies 2023, 13, 239. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13110239
Corman S, Croitoru A. Exploring Hidden Costs of Seasonal Migration in Agriculture within Roma Communities of Origin: Evidence from Romania. Societies. 2023; 13(11):239. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13110239
Chicago/Turabian StyleCorman, Sorina, and Alin Croitoru. 2023. "Exploring Hidden Costs of Seasonal Migration in Agriculture within Roma Communities of Origin: Evidence from Romania" Societies 13, no. 11: 239. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13110239