118th Assembly and related meetings

Cape Town, 12 - 18 April 2008

Third Standing Committee - Democracy and Human Rights

 

 

 

MIGRANT WORKERS, PEOPLE TRAFFICKING, XENOPHOBIA AND HUMAN RIGHTS

 

Deputy Doina DREŢCANU

Romanian Inter-Parliamentary Group

 

 

Dear colleagues,

 

I have the pleasure to address this plenary sitting, on behalf of Romanian delegation, on such important and actual topic that concerns all of us.

 

We are aware of the fact that the reasons for migrant working, generally, are economic in their nature.

 

The economic situation in our country has been difficult in the early ‘90s. Unemployment, which has mainly affected women, unskilled labour and young people, is one of the leading causes of emigration. At the same time, in recent years Romania has become a country of destination, as well as transit, for migrants.

 

The legal framework regulating the status of migrants and asylum seekers, including unaccompanied minors, has been aligned with EU provisions. The practice developed in this area, at national level has aimed at assuring the rights protection of this category. In this regard, the free access to the justice of migrants and asylum seekers is guaranteed by national legislation provisions.

 

On the other hand, after Romania’s accession to EU, the Romanian citizens working in some of the EU Member States are acting under the provision stipulated by internal legal measures of the respective country or under bilateral agreements. According to this fact Romanian citizens need to obtain work permits in order to work legally in these states. Some other EU countries have provided free access to their internal labour market for Romanian citizens which intend to work abroad.

                                                

The management of legal migration and fighting illegal migration, related to work, lead to the necessity of taking effective actions and development of strong collaborations between institutions which have responsibilities in this area.

 

There is a direct linkage between illegal migration and trafficking in persons.

 

Romania has adopted the National Action Plan for 2006-2007 in order to implement the National Strategy against Trafficking in Person established for the period 2006-2010. The Strategy provides the tools to combat trafficking in persons and assists in the coordination of anti-trafficking efforts.  

Romania has made major progresses in the sphere of democracy and openness in Romanian society and has brought the legal codes in line with international human rights instruments, including the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. There have been established national human rights institutions, including the Council for National Minorities, the Centre for European Studies of Ethnic Problems, the Romanian Human Rights Institute, and the office of the Ombudsman exclusively concerned with the defence of human rights and freedoms.

Also, it is important to mention that the policy directions regarding minorities are intended to preserve the ethnic, linguistic, cultural and religious identity of minorities and to protect them against attempts at forced assimilation, exclusion or segregation.

 

Romania's new legal framework prohibits manifestations of racism and xenophobia, including acts of violence, the propagation of racist and xenophobic speech, and discriminatory employment practices.

 

There have been also initiated civic instruction and human rights training programs in the schools, in cooperation with international human rights organizations, including the United Nations Centre for Human Rights.

 

In conclusion, I have to say that Romania has made efforts to evolve in the aforementioned areas and we struggle to pursue our commitments undertaken under international conventions in order to build a modern Romanian society based on human rights standards.

 

Thank you for your attention.