As many as 200,798 foreign citizens with a right of residence valid on the reference date were in the records of the General Inspectorate for Immigration, at the end of November, the IGI informs on Monday, in a press release sent AGERPRES.
Of these, 69% came from third countries, while 30% were from EU and EEA member states, and 1% from the United Kingdom, the IGI release adds, agerpres reports.
Eleven months into 2023, asylum specialists ensured the participation in the integration programme for 1,457 persons with a form of protection and other categories.
"In the complexity of the phenomenon of migration, there is a clear distinction between a migrant and a refugee. The migrant chooses to leave the country of origin, temporarily or permanently, for economic, family, social or cultural reasons, while the refugee is forced to leave their native country, most of the time, due to conflict situations. Moreover, in the case of refugees, states have the obligation to offer them protection against return to their country of origin, effective and unrestricted access to the asylum procedure, as well as a series of forms of assistance: material, medical, social," the source reads.
"The IGI ensures a fair treatment of immigrants and their harmonious integration in our society, having the attribution to offer, through its regional structures, specific services in order to facilitate the integration into Romanian society of different categories of foreigners," the release adds.
The measures provided by the law refer, on the one hand, to facilitating access to a series of economic and social rights, such as the right to a job, to a home, the right to education, the right to medical assistance and social assistance, and, on the other hand, running integration programmes: specific cultural orientation activities, counseling and learning the Romanian language.