Noi culturi, noi antropologii - Humanitas

for some time even after receiving refugee status. This particular
situation continues to be especially acute in Romania
and Bulgaria, for example“ 169 . The impossibility to find work
can be considered to be a powerful reason to leave from
Romania to safer economic countries. Other obstacles in
finding work mentioned by both UNHCR and the refugees in
the first wave were: limited language skills; generally high
rates of unemployment, a lack of appropriate qualifications
for the current labor market. Despite the fact that the 1951
Convention emphasizes the importance of the economic
integration of the refugees through vocational courses, requalification
programs, and job-placements, before 2001 in
Romania no such courses were organized. An alternative to
these state courses were organized by UNHCR with private
companies who provided vocational training to refugees in
fields such as accounting, driving, secretarial skills, and toy
manufacturing. Through its implementing partners, UNHCR
also provided a variety of other employment assistance programs
for refugees, including job placement services, small
business grants, Romanian language classes, and courses at
the Chamber of Commerce for beneficiaries of the business
grants. One successful program financed by UNHCR was the
creation of a network formed by recognized refugees in Bucharest
who have been recruited as counselors in order to
provide assistance to the newly arriving asylum seekers and
recognized refugees: „Working primarily from the refugee
camps, these community workers provide counseling, interpretation,
and assist amongst other things with the various
procedures a refugee follows and types of paperwork he
completes to exercise his rights. They are given a monthly
stipend by UNHCR for this work.“ 170
Compared to the first wave, when the refugees did not
beneficiate of any state support for finding work, the refugees
in the second wave are granted the right to work without
a work authorization, the right to the unemployment
169. UNHCR. (2000) Integration Rights and Practices with Regard to
Recognized Refugees in the Central European Countries, Geneva, p. 75.
170. Idem, pp. 116-119.
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