Romania to Need Estimated EUR 20M to Host 6,350 Refugees for 10 Months

Two officers of the Romanian Interior Ministry (MAI) forces check the new tent camp prepared during a drill at the Serbian- Romanian border, near Lunga village, 550 kilometers west from Bucharest, Romania, 20 September 2015. Photo EPA/BGNES

Romania would have to pay about EUR 20.3 million to host 6,350 refugees for 10 months, as the European Commission requires, according to romania-insider.com.

The news outlet is citing Interior Ministry estimates showing that Romania will have to spend about EUR 1,120 on food and clothing for each refugee plus some EUR 1,085 per migrant for social security expenses.

With Romania able to host only 1,785 refugees in dedicated accommodation centers, the authorities will have to pay rent for other premises to provide shelter to migrants. These additional expenses are estimated at about EUR 1,320 per migrant for the entire ten-month period.

Meanwhile,  Romania has set up two temporary refugee camps near its border with Serbia and conducted practice drills to test its capacity to cope with a migrant influx.

"Although Romania is not facing migrant pressure, these actions are necessary to test our capacities to react to regional dynamics," Deputy Prime Minister Gabriel Oprea said in a statement, according to Reuters.

EU member Romania, which is not part of the bloc’s Schengen zone of passport-free travel, has so far been spared the migrant influx registered in neighbouring Hungary where thousands of migrants crossed from non-EU Serbia in recent weeks, seeking to reach western Europe. 

The Romanian foreign ministry last week summoned the Hungarian ambassador to express concern over Hungary’s decision to build a border fence between the two countries to stop the flow of migrants. The foreign ministry said that building a fence between two EU member states is “not in accordance with the European spirit.” 

 

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