Romania

Trends and key figures

The number of arrivals to Romania by sea has increased over the past months, as indicated by several incidents of Coast Guard interception of boats travelling through the Black Sea.

Romania's coast guard has rescued more than 150 migrants from a troubled ship on the Black Sea in an operation highlighting an emerging route for migrants trying to reach Western Europe.

Coast guard deputy commander Cristian Cicu says the rusty ship was towed to the Black Sea port of Constanta, about 250 kilometers east of Bucharest, shortly before dawn on September 13.

An initial count showed 153 people on board the ship, including 53 children.

Rise in boats intercepted by Romanian coastguard fuels fears that smugglers are trying to reactivate dangerous transit passage to Europe

A dangerous new route for refugees trying to reach Europe is thought to have opened up in the Black Sea, which coastguards in Romania are warning could prove more deadly than the current Mediterranean crossings.

Far fewer refugees and migrants entered Europe via the Mediterranean routes than in the first half of 2016,1 largely due to a drastic decrease in numbers crossing the sea to Greece.2 The first six months of 2017 saw an increase in the number of refugees and migrants entering Europe via the Central Mediterranean route to Italy, with 83,752 arrivals.3 However, due to lower arrival levels in July, numbers have remained at a similar level to last year. Arrivals also increased via the Western Mediterranean route to Spain (by 93%) compared to the same period last year.

HIGHLIGHTS AND STATISTICS

• The number of new refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants counted in Serbia on 13 August was 4,705. Of those, 4,413, i.e. 94%, were accommodated in 18 governmental centres. (below chart refers).

• UNHCR and partners received reports of 122 recorded collective pushbacks from Hungary, and 102 from Croatia, with many alleging to have been denied access to asylum procedures. Report of three pushbacks from Romania were also received.

Modern slavery risks have risen in nearly three quarters of the 28 member states of the European Union over the last year, reveals an annual study from global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.

By Umberto Bacchi

LONDON, Aug 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The European Union recorded the largest increase in slavery of any world region in 2017, with the arrival of more than 100,000 migrants, many of them extremely vulnerable to exploitation, analysts said on Thursday.

The risk of slave labour in farming, construction and other sectors rose across the region, with 20 of the EU's 28 member states scoring worse than in 2016 in an annual global slavery index by British analytics company Verisk Maplecroft.

Key figures (October 2015 – 26 July 2017)

Highlights
- A new story: We worked on a new story for Dorcas in 2016, with various departments and stakeholders giving their input.

25,392 Total persons relocated
17,457 Relocated from Greece (26% of 66,400)
7,935 Relocated from Italy (20% of 39,600)

Extreme or very high danger in southern and eastern Portugal; southern and central Spain and Mallorca; southern Corsica and the Mediterranean region of France; Sicily, Sardinia and southern and central Italy; coastal Croatia; central Albania; eastern Hungary; northern and eastern Serbia; former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; central Kosovo under UNSCR 1244; parts of south-west Romania; south-east and north-west Bulgaria; southern mainland Greece and the Cyclades islands; parts of central Cyprus; central and south-west Turkey.

Protection

Information, identification and referrals of Persons with Specific Needs (PSN):

• More than 75,700 translation services provided, mainly for authorities

• Some 35,000 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants provided with information

• Over 7,600 protection interviews conducted

• Over 4,200 persons entered in the UNHCR Global proGres database

• Over 1,500 PSN identified and referred to appropriate services, including 25 cases of gender based violence

Extreme or very high danger in southern, central and eastern Portugal, the eastern Canary Islands and south, central and north-east Spain; northern Corsica and the Mediterranean coast of France; Sicily, Sardinia, and southern mainland Italy; Malta; most of Kosovo under UNSCR 1244; most of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; central Albania; parts of south-eastern Romania, parts of southern Bulgaria; southern Crete and south-east mainland Greece; central Cyprus; central, east and west Turkey.

Developments

Highlights

According to available data, in the first half of 2017, there were more than 100,000 arrivals to Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Spain (101,559). This represents a 58% decrease when compared to the same period in 2016 when 239,925 arrivals were registered. This is mainly due to the sharpe decrease in arrivals to Greece.

Trends and key figures

Since 01 January 2017 until 30 June 2017, 102,847 refugees and migrants have arrived in the Mediterranean (Greece, Italy, Spain and Cyprus, including arrivals to the Canary Islands and by land to Spain). Arrivals by sea in this period comprised of 17 per cent children, 12 per cent women and 71 per cent men.

In 2016, almost 1.3 million applications for international protection were made in the EU+. This was a 7 % decrease compared to 2015 when close to 1.4 million applications were lodged. However, the significant increase in asylum applications over the past two years led to a growth in decisions issued at first instance: in 2016, EU+ countries issued close to 1.15 million first-instance decisions, an increase of 84 % compared to 2015. Also decisions issued in second instance rose in 2016 compared to 2015, by 21%.