Romanians, increasingly hostile towards foreigners. How experts explain the new attack on a delivery company

The new attack on a foreign delivery man who was insulted, assaulted and threatened on the street near the Capital highlights the xenophobia and racism that persists in society. Experts point out that these behaviors are fueled by inequality, poor education and stereotypes, and some people's frustration with competition for jobs can amplify hostility towards foreigners.

Asian worker working in Romania

How xenophobia and racism arise

If xenophobia is defined as the fear, hostility or prejudice towards foreigners, in the case of racism there is also the mistaken belief that people can be ranked or judged according to their race. Both are manifested through discrimination and negative attitudes towards those who are categorized as “different”.

“Unfortunately, xenophobia and racism (as part or expression of xenophobia) appear where inequalities are very high, they appear where education is of very poor quality, they appear where people consider themselves different from each other and superior to each other. (…) Which again could be a cause leading to xenophobia: prejudices and stereotypes. We know very well that we have preconceived ideas, we generalize certain characteristics of a group of people. Whether we take it from the family, whether we take it from the media or from friends, all these things lead to discrimination.”, says Mihaela Nabăr, executive director of World Vision Romania, an organization that also fights against discrimination.

On the other hand, sociologist Dan Petre believes that, in Romania, a cause can also be the perception of competition for jobs.

“In the last four or five years, against this background of economic development, Romania imported workers mainly from Southeast Asia. People who no longer have access to these jobs feel that their social power is disappearing or eroding, they no longer receive enough recognition from society, and this leads to a high level of frustration, which can also manifest itself through these xenophobic and racist behaviors“, says Dan Petre.

Fake news and their role in discrimination

Mihaela Nabăr, director of World Vision Romania

If initially society seemed to welcome both Asian workers and Ukrainian refugees with open arms, things started to go in a different direction with the appearance of fake news. And all in the center a common theme: money.

“It is this fake news that is circulating on all communication channels. We don't know, because of the lack of education and critical thinking to analyze them, we don't go to check whether it is so or not. If we talk about Ukrainian refugees, we know very well that very large sums have been circulated that are not and have never been true. (…)

Same now with Asian workers, who we see as taking our jobs, which – again – is not true. They are not better paid either, on the contrary. As an organization that works in this area and has projects for integration, every day we see the discrimination they face. We see abuses from employers every day, we see abuses from the public system against them every day. And our role is to go with them, to make sure that their rights are respected and that the public institutions and systems that are supposed to provide them with the services that they need are prepared and they do so with knowledge of the case.” emphasizes Mihaela Nabăr.

The theme of migration was also used politically.

Dan Petre, sociologist

“We also see this theme of migration affecting the cultural space of the respective country. It became a very relevant theme for part of society and part of the electorate and was taken up by some parties and amplified. And thus it was moved higher on the public agenda” says sociologist Dan Petre.

Myth: Only the poorly educated are racist

Racism and xenophobia are not only specific to people with a low level of formal education. “Does it seem to me that we are an increasingly ignorant society, it seems to us that we know everything and that what we know differentiates us and makes us superior to the other” draws the attention of the director of World Vision, Mihaela Nabăr.

At the societal level, discrimination seems systemic, so guidance is needed.

“Unfortunately, our tendency, when we talk about either the Health system or the Education system, or when we talk about employers, is to discriminate, to add without integrating. And of course all these things are transmitted in society. Families talk a lot about it and then the child learns from there. And then what we see is a worrying increase in bullying and violence in schools.

Due to the fact that they do not know the language and do not understand very well what is said to them, very often we witness cases of abuse by employers towards Ukrainian refugees”says Mihaela Nabăr.

The feeling of superiority of one group over another is not only seen when it comes to people who come from other countries and cultures. In Romania, says Mihaela Nabăr, there is another type of xenophobia, directed even at one's own fellow citizens:

“We see that rural Romania is very often perceived as >, where people are >. Here, xenophobia no longer appears only in its classic version, which defines it as hatred or fear towards those of other races, other ethnicities, but simply considers that the Romanian countryside is different and then takes a violent stance towards it and discriminates a lot”.

Isolation of communities and violence, the biggest risk

“Hate breeds hatred. Most of the time when there is no one to mediate, when there are no laws to defend certain principles and values, certain communities can be isolated. It can lead to blocking access to schools, blocking access to the workplace, blocking access to public places – because we see all these aggressions that have happened lately are in public places.

If we don't take very clear actions that take us to an area of ​​education about what the other means and the positive impact that the other has in our country, I think we will end up seeing more and more conflicts, we will end up seeing hate speech. We will end up seeing it in areas of society that we consider “high level”, because from what we see, xenophobia and racism, yes, appear against the background of lack of education, but, unfortunately, they reach all layers of society”draws attention to Mihaela Nabăr.

The case of the delivery man from Sri Lanka physically and verbally assaulted in Popești Leordeni took place right on the street, just like the other situations referred to by Mihaela Nabăr. His reaction, published by journalist Claudia Elena Constandiș, does not need many comments.

Video source: Facebook/ Claudia Elena Constandiș

There are also political and economic risks

Sociologist Dan Petre also brings up the economic component, but also the political risk that xenophobia entails:

“Entrepreneurs and companies say that we would need at least 120,000 – 150,000 workers per year to come from outside the country. So if these people are no longer present in the economy, the economy no longer works as well and there are losses, there is not enough development. (…) The next risk is that of political tensions, of the rise of parties that are either on one side or on the other regarding this issue. And the risk of increasing support for parties that are somehow non-system, rather extremist parties or that support such positions“.

what to do The perspective of the sociologist

It is a very complex topic and for which there are no simple solutions, the expert says. International experience shows that the most effective ways are the following: firstly, their integration from an economic point of view, so that would assume that the respective country is in a good economic period; two, cultural integration; three, reducing these distances between social groups through all kinds of activities, the most important of which is that the inhabitants are exposed to the culture of people who come from other cultures. So some cultural events in such a way that they can directly see that there are people like them, who have the same needs, who have the same concerns, who also want to succeed in life, who left in search of a better life, just as the Romanians left Romania to work abroad in search of a better life”says Dan Petre.

what to do The perspective of the civic activist

Mihaela Nabăr also talks about activities through which people can get to know each other and gain trust:

“I also noticed in schools that there are situations of discrimination against children – and not necessarily from child to child, but rather from adult to child. What we do in our programs and try to expand nationally are those intercultural dialogues. We are trying to create specific actions in each of our schools, in each of our communities, so that people from different cultures interact, collaborate and we can fight these prejudices after they get to know each other and gain some trust in each other. Let's see that in fact we are the same, we are not different, we simply do not know each other”.

In addition, she says, anti-discrimination laws play a very important role. And state authorities should do their job when hate speech occurs, regardless of who is behind it.

Just as important, says Mihaela Nabăr, are the models we pass on to children:

“It is absolutely mandatory and extremely important that from a young age and in school, in kindergartens, we promote education that emphasizes equal opportunities, common history, increasing empathy, the fact that we are equal. (…) The place from which all these behavior changes should start is the school and the family. In vain we go to school, we hear something and in the family we hear something else entirely, a behavior that incites hatred. And vice versa”.

PHOTO Bright Horizons