migration as life strategy

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72 Dumitru Sandu

Sociologie Românească / Romanian Sociology - Annual English Electronic Edition - Issue 2 (2000)

companies, the NGO's, influenced or originated in the West , the new western educational

opportunities, the economic partnerships, the numerous evaluation and negotiation activities

developed by the international financial institutions as well as the internet implementation were as

many factors that favoured the human relationships.

Although the available data are really poor and they do not provide the means for an

accurate comparison, they significantly back up the hypothesis that the tendency of the circulatory

migration seems to be more powerful at the social level than it used to be during the previous years:

almost 30% of the subjects from may 2001 declared that they would like to go abroad for work,

tourism or education purposes within the following year. Of course, the mere intention cannot equal

a structured plan for going abroad. 30% of the total number of potential migrants declare that they

have already carried out some actions in order to succeed in their project.

The circulatory migration tendency at the moment of the survey doubled in terms of its

extent the intention of definitely leaving the country. This type of project was though assumed by

only 14% of the subject of the survey.

Table 2. The tendencies related to the circulatory migration according to residential

environments

People intend (+) or they don't (-

) intend to leave the country,

within the next year, for the

following reasons

The current residential

environment

Work tourism education

The type of reason for the

circulatory migration

rural urban

Total

- - + Only education 2 5 4

- + + Tourism and education 4 9 8

+ - + Work and education 12 8 9

+ + - Work and tourism 13 14 14

+ + + Work, tourism, education 14 14 14

- + - Only tourism 14 30 25

+ - - Only work 41 20 26

Total % 100 100 100

N 152 377 529

The data source: The public opinion barometer of the Foundation for an Open Society, may 2001. The total sample

consists of 1817 subjects, the ones who intend to take up a type of circulatory migration represent 29% of the total

amount of subjects.

Although the migration oriented tendencies are not accurately measured or identified, they

prove to be helpful as far as the social factors and the migration strategies are concerned.

The intension of working abroad and of travelling for tourism represents the main reasons of

the projects concerning the circulatory migration (Table 2). In a decreasing order with respect to

intensity, the hierarchy presents the reasons work+toursim, work+tourism+education. The last



76 Dumitru Sandu


The strategy of the migration out of working purposes is taken up out of reasons that differ

within the countryside from the equivalent tendencies within the urban areas. The unemployment

rate seems to encourage the international migration for working purposes within the rural areas,

while the town's inhabitants favor more the occupational mobility projects.

It is not the income that a person disposes of that determines her migration abroad out of

working purposes, but mainly the experience related to the working place and occupation. Within

the rural areas, the project concerning the external mobility for working purposes is associated not

only to the trauma due to unemployment but also to the experience of looking for a secondary/

additional income source.From the community-region oriented conditioning point of view, as well

as from the actual migration point of view, one may identify the positive conditioning that the

development level of the county imposes to the emigration tendencies, especially when the urban

population is concerned. It is the same urban population who favors the tendency to go abroad for

working purposes when there is a higher social-economic level within the area. As for the rural

population, the region centered conditioning for the potential migration is poorly structured. One

has registered only a stronger tendency concerning the definite external emigration within the poor

rural places.

Migration as a strategy rated from the community's point of view

The data within the national surveys we have been using up to now, have already indicated

that there is strong evolution of the migrational behaviour in terms of community and region

factors. The native local community plays a more complex role in the process of determining the

migration than the analysis based on the national surveys could foresee.

The native community is extremely important when providing the relational capital and the

mobility patterns that the possible migrants can interpret in a positive or in a negative way, by

complying with then or by innovating them. It is a fact that there are community centered patters in

respect of the international migration. These patterns seem to be a type of strategic 'ready-made'

patterns the local population can refer to. Questions such as ' What country should you go to? , How

can one get there?, Where can one live and work once one gets there?, How much can one earn?,

What resources does one need in order to carry out the project already adopted by the community?

– most of the times they find an answer within the community oriented migrating patterns.



Circulatory migration as life strategy 79


opportunities, by

coping with the risk

and by benefiting

from a human and

social capital that

may make them

successful.

The first

destination of the

‘pioneer-migrant’

from Crangeni

wasn’t actually a

randomly chosen

destination,

especially after

having failed in his

attempt to Canada.In Madrid, where he

finally settles, the

pioneer meets an

uncle, a religious

community -

Adventist and a

tolerant society.

The Spanish

migrant community

is spontaneously

defined in terms of regional Romanian

identity and ‘arrival

waves’.

At present, the

migration

phenomenon seems

to be fully

consolidated, since

almost 10% of the

interviewed subjects

all the time people saying that: ‘you should go abroad…it is better that

way’. I wanted to do something, to change the situation, to see whether

that was better or it was just a rumor.

Did you already know the boy over there?

Yes, he came from Crangeni as well. He had left not very long ago,

maybe half an year ago. He has first left for Belgium on the occasion of a football match, then for Canada, inside a container, like everybody

else at that time…I have been through that as well. We have arrived in

Portugal, but we couldn’t go that far; we only got to the Azore Islands,

because the ship that was supposed to take us to Canada din not stop in

all the places. The containers, or whatever they are called, were left in

Azore, from were another ship was to overtake them. That is why I did

not have the chance to get to Canada. This happened after five month

of my being in Spain.

I had in mind Canada, but it did not come out this way.

How did you manage to leave the country?

First, I left on a trip to France, where I stayed for two or three days,

then I went to the Spanish border where someone was waiting for me, a

friend, and he drove me from there to Madrid.

The friend was from Crangeni…

No, he was from Pitesti.

So, when you arrived in Spain, there was this friend and the Adventist

community that helped you. What did you in the first year after you got

there?

I also had an uncle, my mother’s brother, who was already there. I

started to work with him… he helped me….but it was really rough at

the beginning ..I was working for the black market at the beginning. It is still the same now for the other people.

You said that there are 3000 Romanians in Madrid. How many of them are

from the Teleorman county?

There are a lot of people from Teleorman and also from Moldova,

Prahova, Slatina. The first ones who left were from Slatina. When I got

there, almost everybody was from Slatina.

They had left immediately after 1990?

No. they had left one or two years before I got there.

So, the first wave was from Slatina. What about the second wave?

8 There was also a survey that was carried out in Crangeni in order to get more information, based on a probability

sample of 51 households. The research that has been carried out in the area of Crangeni, Dobrotesti and Rosiori, from

July, 2001 can join the projects within the research contract C/CNCSIS called ‘ The importance of the social and

human capital to the regional development in Romania’ (Project coordinator: D. Sandu). The corresponding percentage

for the richer village, Dobrotesti, was 12%. The number of those who have permanently or temporarily left abroad is as

follows: 16% in Crangeni, 42 % in Dobrotesti (a 51 subject sample) and 21 % in Rosiori (on a 197 subject sample). The

tendency for provisional emigration within the following year is a lot lower in the poor village of Crangeni (4%) as

compared to the rich village of Dobrotesti (41%). The explanation is simple: the inhabitants form Crangeni are poorer,

while the inhabitants from Dobrotesti have a larger social-relational capital that could facilitate their access to different

destinations abroad. What could justify the difference between the material level of the households from the two

villages is the fact that 16% of the inhabitants from Crangeni own a car, as compared to 30% in Dobrotesti. The

corresponding percentage for the households in the survey from Rosiori de Vede was 25%.



80 Dumitru Sandu


have either parents

or children who

work on a temporary

basis in Spain8.

They were from Teleorman.

(Interview with EA, from Crangeni).

Plans, efforts,

accumulation of starting capital

Adventists are

generally great

constructors,

manufacturers,

specialized in

handmade

marchidizes (ready-

mades etc). Many of them still work as

constructors after

they arrived in

Spain.

The people from

the village already

know that if we want

to leave for Spain,

you need almost 40

million lei, a sum

which is extremelylarge under the

circumstances of the

poor conditions in

Crangeni, but you

also need a visa and

some relationships in

Spain.

Some people, but

only a new, prepare

their project by

starting to learn

Spanish before

leaving. Most of

them though, do not

give a second

thought to that and

say that it is more

When you left the country, what was the level of your education?

PA9: I had graduated 10 forms.

EA: I had graduated 8.Did you know any trade?

PA: I had learn to become a tailor, I knew that work very well.

EA: I had taken courses in ready-mades.What about your parents? Did they have any qualification?

PA: Under communism they used to manufacture ready-mades, or to

tailor different clothes.Where did they sell that merchandise?

EA: At the marketplace, in Rosiori de Vede, anywhere.

Did you get any advantage there in Spain from what you knew – the tailoring,

the craftsmanship?

EA: No, it was not an useful.Did you start learning Spanish before leaving the country?

EA: No, I didn’t know anything; I thought that I will learn the

language anyway, once I got there. I tried to listen to some tapes that

my cousin gave me..Let’s pretend that I am not a teacher at the University form Bucharest, that I

am one of your acquaintances from Crangeni and that I want to come to

Spain. What should I do? How much will it actually cost me to come to

Spain?

EA: The visa is the most important thing to get.How can I obtain it?

EA: By going on a trip or by buying it from the black market (1200-

1300$).Let’s suppose I have already got the visa. How do I get to Spain?

EA: By plane or by bus.How much is a plane ticket from Bucharest to Madrid?

EA: 400$.So, I have the visa, I also have the plane ticket...what else do I need?

EA: You need a connection in Spain.So I need almost 1700-2000$ to get to Spain.

EA: Yes. It’s better to come by bus…but it is very difficult.

………………………………………………………………..What did you teach the boy?

DP 10: He learned a little bit in this construction field. I built a house

for him, two years ago, I finished the house which was located in a

9 PA: EA’s brother; they both came to Crangeni, from Spain, to visit their parents. Interview realized by DS.10 DP – is one of the leaders of the Adventist community from the village of Crangeni (Presbiterian). As most

Adventists, he is a constructor and specialist in ready-mades. He owns a firm and he is entitle to perform these





important to get

there, and then they

‘will manage’, and

learn the language

on the spot.

special area, so he got a lot to learn from there.. We also fitted the

house with floors and stoves …we hope he will stay.

The topic of the

international

migration is a

controversial one,

that brings conflict

in the relationship

between children

and their parents.

The economicadvantages are very

persuasive only for

the young people;

the old generation is

still reluctant.

Is he married, your son?

DP: No, he is 21 years old.

To many more! How did he decide to go to Spain?

DP: It was very easy. He had been insisting on leaving for Spain for three years and we had found all kinds of reasons to prevent him from doing that.The car that we have today is a new one, actually we bought it three yearsago. We bought the car on his name and I told him’ Look, i bought this car

for you (we already had one), I will build a house for you, but stay here, donot leave the country’ – he could find his way with our help, he could

succeed. But that is the tendency of all young people today. And we never tried to interfere with his plans. We showed him how things were going, what

our position was, but he was the one to take the final decision, always. Sincehe insisted on this leaving abroad, we didn’t want to help him with moneyuntil the last moment. He decided to borrow some money, with interest, from

some Gypsies from Draganestii de Olt, but on the very last day, the Gypsies phoned him and told him that they cannot lend him the money – as weexpected, because we have our faith, and we have been through someexperiences when we saw God’s work. He was supposed to take from thoseGypsies 15 million lei, with a 5 million lei per month interest. I saw himlaying in bed and tossing, because he already had the papers and he was

supposed to go to the embassy. He left by means of our family association,and that cost him some 16 million lei, which is not much as compared towhat other people had to pay – some 30 million lei. That was the price at the

time, now it a way over 40 million lei.What do you get for these 40 million lei?

DP: There are some people who deal with this transaction. They havetheir connections there. So only the visa costs 40 million lei. I have a nephewwho left after my son, who had to pay 35 million lei last autumn. You just

find somebody who has some connections there.. They say ‘ Look, you givethis money and in one week I get you the visa’. But he went there in person;he obtained all the necessary documents from Alexandria, then he went tothe embassy himself, he paid for the legal documents only and he got thevisa. He didn’t have to pay any other …… I told him: ‘ You get dressed and we go to Rosiori and I will give you the money you need’ and then he said ‘

Where do you have that money from ?’. I went to the bank in Rosiori, I took the money out of my account, I give it to him, and in one week he left.

………………………………………………………………………………..The declaration of an unmarried young woman from Stejaru – a village

that belongs to the commune of Crangeni, who helps the post man in

activities. Many of the concrete fences in the village have been executed by him ,before 1989. the ready-mades that he

manufactures are sold at the fairs. The entire family – when the children were at home as well - takes part in the process

of manufacturing and selling of the products. His boy has left for Spain for an year. The other two daughters are

married and live ‘at their house’ . The interview was realized by DS, in July 2001.



84 Dumitru Sandu


EA: It is easier to find a work place. Now there are more people there,more connections, you have more chances to find someone to help you.

Before, when we used to hire apartments, there were many of us who lived inthem together. Now, the average is six persons in one apartment.

Choosing a

destination that is

friendly to

immigrants

How much does the semi-legalization process cost, since full legalization is a

long way to go..

EA: Initially it was more difficult to have your papers put right. Now, theyhave passed some really advantageous laws for foreigners. Since Januarythe 1st 1999, they gave work permits to everybody, no matter whether they

had contracts.. It didn’t matter. Since January 23rd

2001, a foreigner

needs a Spanish identity card and a pre-contract.

Where do the inhabitants of Teleorman preferably go: to Madrid or to

the south?

EA: There are a lot of people in Andaluzia, but only a few in Barcelona.There are more racists, there are inhabitants from Catalonia, it's another

region, they speak a different language. It is even more difficult with theofficial papers. As for Barcelona, they even had troubles in the government.They issued only a few papers, even if the law was the same.

'Connections home' How do the people in the village feel this connection with Spain? Do they

receive money or parcels?

DP: We received three times 7 million lei. We told him that he shouldn't have done that because we can manage. Then he sent us parcels with sweets,chocolate.

How do these parcels arrive here? By the post office?

DP: There are a lot of trafficants, like the taxi drivers on the route

Rosiori -Crangeni. They do the same things on the route Madrid- Crangeni.They load their car with parcels from all over the country. They came amonth and a half ago, and they have a list of the numbers on the parcels.

Mister DP… your parcel number..

And how comes that they do not have any troubles at the customs? They have

the status of a company or something…

DP: I don't know how they manage to get away, but the parcels are sealed when they arrive here, and the money and the things are safe. Themoney arrive by Moneygram

Is this system , Moneygram, working here in Rosiori?

DP: It is working in Alexandria. He called me and he said: 'I sent you the

money, make sure you go to Alexandria and pick it up. Two and a half months ago he sent wo parcels with electronic devices: a sports color TV set,a video player.

…………………………………………………………………………………...

Consequences back

home

Let's go back to Crangeni. In your opinion, what are the effects of that

community in Spain, made out of Romanians originated in Crangeni on the

people over here?

EA: My parents didn't actually need the parcels that I sent, they could manage, on their own. I helped them to carry out the agricultural work, two

springs in a row. It is more difficult during spring.

You have a nice house. Did you help them build it?





EA: NO, I didn't.

What about the other Romanians from Crangeni. Do they send more home

from Spain than you did?

EA: Yes. There is a boy, Viorel, who sent his father money to buy a Gloria- a tractor.

So, there are tractors and houses that were bought and built by means of

money from Spain?

EA: Yes. That's true. What about the other people that do not have a houselhold like yours with

everything you need….do their children send more? Do they send money to

help them build their houses or to buy tractors?

DP: They help them. For example, there are two families who have theboys there, and they sent them money. Thus, the family could buy a car, to fixtheir households. It is obvious that what somebody can achieve with themoney from Spain, one could never get here in years. Within the first threemonths he insisted on my coming there, but he knew where I stood in this

respect. I told him that ' It's no use spending your money on these phonecalls, trying to persuade me'. Maybe, if he succeeds in obtaining theresidence rights, I will visit him next year (!).

…………………….

What about the Adventists? Are they working more as carpenters or joiners?

TR12: yes, they do both works. They bought their own cars, if they could.One of them spent two years in Spain. I also have a nephew in Spain. He hasbeen there for one year, together with his wife. They want to achieve

something, to earn money, to work, not to suffer from anything.

What was your nephew's qualification?

TR: He was a house painter. His father in law has been living there for ten years. His entire family is there, together with all the children. When hecomes here, he comes as if he visits his relatives. His fortune is there, though,his work as well. He got really far with the money they pay you there. Thisnephew sent money home, so that we managed with the field works: the

seeding and the ploughing.

How much money does your nephew send back home?

TR: he sent 10 million lei, even 20 million lei, for furniture, so that theycould furnish the house. He also helped another brother, who is a preacher with the Adventists. He has another brother who is an engineer in Brasov,who has a nice life over there.

The future seen from'there' and from

'here'.

When somebody

leaves the country,

he thinks: 'I go there,

I make some money,

and then I come

What about your future plans? How do you see life for the future? EA: It is really hard here. When we arrived home - it has been eight years

since we last came- we were in a car… I don't remember the towns…but until we got to Sibiu…all the children run after you if they see you own a foreigncar. They show you their stomach, implying that they are dying of hunger…It makes you cry…you don't cry because you missed your country, but becauseof what you see. The blocks of flats are not painted…it feels as if there was awar.

DP: It is all in ruins. Everything is black, nothing is painted or clean, to

12 TR: an old man, a widower, from the village of Crangeni. He lives at the borders of the village, together with one of

his children, who is handicapped. The other two children live in Bucharest (his daughter) and in Rosiori, respectively

(his son). The interview was realized by DS, in July 2001.





that have been

investigated. On the

contrary, the

inhabitants of

Rosiori consider that

the key of success

consists of

connections and

ambition.

Crangeni is

though a strongly

traditional

community, where

making business and

working abroad is

low rated. It is true

that he have spokento those who still

lived in the village.

The ones with a

more modern

mentality, with more

mobility seem to

have already left

Crangeni. The

village of Dobrotesti,

due to its modernism

and rich community, provides an

increased mobility

and favors more the

ideology of external

migration.

What of the following is

the most important for

being successful in

Romania?

Dobrotesti Crangeni Rosiori de

Vede

Being honest 24 45 15

Hard working 22 20 17

Having rich relatives 8 8 5

Having connections 8 4 26

Being ambitious 2 4 21

High education level 12 4 6

Working abroad for a while 8 2 5

Opening a business 2 0 3

No answer/ I don't know 14 14 2

Total % 100 100 100

N 50 51 197

The number of persons who would like to

emigrate, out of a total community sample

from

'Within the next year,

do you intend to leave

Romania for a foreign

country? Dobrotesti Crangeni Rosiori de

Vede

For tourism 8 2 8

For provisional working

abroad12 4 11

To improve your education

or qualification4 0 6

I would emigrate and live

there6 0 7

A favorable

circumstance

concerning the

migration to Spain:

the Adventist

religion, the decline

of the construction

filed in Romania, the

demand of

constructors in Spain

and the Spanish

tolerance.

ID13: The phenomenon has a different connotation than people usuallythink. During communism, the Adventist persons had a really hard life tolive. But why? Because they rested on Saturdays, while all the other peoplerested on Sundays.

ID: And especially because Saturdays were working days at that time, sothey had to adjust their work.. they needed jobs that could allow them not toactually work on Saturdays...how can I put this…For example, theintellectuals. There were a few engineers, it was more difficult...but thedoctors could manage to schedule their duty, their shifts as they wanted. Sothey could manage this way. I am talking on behalf of the community now,the community's life turned around this rest day and they had to find those

jobs that could allow them a proper living. So they became tailors, furriers,brick layers, they went on the site, they worked on Sundays, but they didn't work on Saturdays. You see, they never joined CFR - The Romanian rail

13 ID: He is an engineer, a counselor at the mayor's office in the city of Rosiori and he is also an Adventist. The

interview was realized by Manuela Stanculescu, in July 2001



90 Dumitru Sandu


The pioneers of the community focus, as any other pioneers, on looking for opportunities,

by coping with the risk and by benefiting from a human and social capital that should allow them to

succeed.

The conversion between the different migration types occurs due to the changing of the

utility based values, that the migrant assigns to the places on his route. As far as the provisional

destination is seen in a positive light from the economic, social and cultural point of view, there

may be a conversion of the provisional migration into a permanent one, under the circumstances of

the absence of a family based constraint at the origin. In the same way, the migration from urban

back to rural areas, after one has lived in town for a significant number of years, tends to signify,

within the actual context from Romania, a re-evaluation of the original location, when the town - in

its capacity of so-called permanent emigration destination- can no longer provide a work place or

an acceptable life status.

By considering the provisional international migration as a life strategy that spreads as a

social innovation, one may seize the micro - and macro-social conditioning of the phenomenon.

Annexes

Table A1. The structure of the internal migration according to residential flows

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Urban-rural 6.4 3.5 10.1 13.7 14.6 18.4 20.8 23.4 26.8 28.5 30.7 33.8

Urban-urban 19.2 18.2 20.2 24.3 25.4 25.6 26.1 27.4 25.0 26.0 26.5 23.7

Rural-rural 18.9 8.5 19.4 22.8 25.0 25.5 28.0 24.5 25.6 23.6 21.7 23.0

Rural-urban 55.4 69.8 50.3 39.2 35.0 30.5 25.1 24.7 22.6 22.0 21.0 19.5

Total

migration100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

related

events N 192900 786461 262903 293182 240231 266745 289491 292879 302579 276154 275699 244507

Data source: The National Statistics Institute





Table A 2: The number of persons who traveled abroad within the last 10 years, according to

different social levels (%)

Rural sub-

sample

Urban sub-

sample

Total

sample

Gender Male 6 21 14

Female 13 35 25

Age Under 25 years 15 24 2125-29 years 14 31 24

60 years and more 2 19 9

Educational level Primary school 4 5 4

Secondary school 8 18 12

Professional 14 17 16

High school 18 31 28

Post – high school 16 35 31

University degree 26 50 47Modern fittings within the household Low level 5 8 6

Average 12 19 17High level 20 46 40

No 9 26 18Do you have parents or children who have

permanently settled abroad?Yes 27 56 47

Ethnic origin other ethnic group 33 49 40

Romanian 6 25 17

Religion Not Orthodox 30 44 37

Orthodox 6 25 16

Goods consumption per capita Below the average level 8 16 11

Above the average level 13 27 23

Low 6 12 8Average 10 25 19Media consumption levelMEDIA

High 17 35 30

Low 10 10 10

Average 11 25 20

The development level of the

native location QLIFLEUR

High 6 30 29

Historical region Moldova 7 22 14

Muntenia

Dobrogea

Or Oltenia 6 18 11

Bucharest 26 28 27

Transilvania 16 37 29

Satisfaction due to incomes level Low 9 19 13

Average 7 17 12

High 16 38 33"it is better to have a poorly paid but

sure job than a well paid but unsecure

job"

Yes8 22 15

No 17 42 34

Total 10 27 19Data source: The Public Opinion Barometer of the Foundation for an Open Society, BOP - FSD, May 2001.

Data reading guide: 6% of the total number of adult women originated in the rural areas have traveled abroad within the

last 10 years. The corresponding percentage for the adult urban male population is 35%.

migration as life strategy

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