The Romanian Legislative Reform in the field of integration for beneficiaries of international protection

Abstract

Migration, as a social-economic phenomenon, has existed from the dawn of humanity, in different forms and in different contexts. Although studied from different perspectives, in the modern and contemporary period, this branch of international law is rather new in comparison to other fields of the same category. Indisputably, war, social unrest and natural catastrophes of the XIXth and XXth Century has determined mostly Western countries to establish new policies and international law, like the 1951 Geneva Convention on the Status of  Refugees and the creation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As part of new relations with UNHCR, and later the membership to the European Union and NATO, post-communist Romania has developed asylum procedures and assumed responsibility to integrate refugees in our society. Although the development of standardized integration law, policy and practice has been a result of a 20 years struggle, today we see that there is an increased interest from the competent authorities to adapt the services provided to the needs of refugees. Such is the modification of the integration legislation that occurred in the last two years, which can be considered a “Reform in the field of integration for refugees”.