Romanian Worker in France
As part of travailleur roumain en france cultural ties with Romania, many French people travel there. Some take a short break in the capital Bucharest, while others settle there permanently. Some are teachers and doctors who have a dual residency in France, but most are Roma migrants who work in the capital’s crowded and sometimes dangerous rail stations, where they earn money by helping foreign travelers with ticket, snapshot and candy machines.
Some are agnostics or atheists, while others are practicing New Age spirituality, which they say helps them cope with the pressure of working for tips at the ticket and snapshot booths. A surprisingly large number also own properties in Romania, although they typically use them only for holidays. Nevertheless, 72% of the Romanian physicians interviewed are ready to settle there for an extended or definitive period (131 talked of a project). They tend to invest their money in France rather than in Romania, and send about a quarter of their income to family back home on a monthly basis.
Support Networks: Resources Available for Romanian Workers in France
Romania and Bulgaria, the two countries from which most Roma originate, became full members of the European Union in 2007. But “transitional arrangements” mean that their citizens can only work in limited occupations in France until December 31. The French government is expected to discuss lifting these restrictions next week, which would allow Roma to seek employment in France without fear of being evicted from their squalid camps, some of which have been dismantled recently, with hundreds of their residents repatriated to their homeland.
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