The representative of the United Nations Office for Refugees (UNHCR) in Romania, Pablo Zapata, gave an interview to HotNews.ro, in which he answered some questions and prejudices of many Romanians about Ukrainian refugees.

Since February 2022, more than 3.7 million refugees from Ukraine have crossed the Romanian border due to the war started by Russia. About 94,000 of them remained with us in the country.

UNHCR – the UN Refugee Agency recently launched a new communication campaign “Born in Ukraine. Searching for hope in Romania”, which aims to strengthen the integration and social cohesion of Ukrainians who have remained here.

In this context, he asked Pablo Zapata, the representative of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Romania, several questions about the integration of Ukrainians in the labor market in Romania and the difficulties that arise in this process.

To begin with, I would like to ask you what is the purpose of this new communication campaign launched by UNHCR? Do you think people in Romania need to know more about Ukrainian refugees?

Pablo Zapata: It is not necessary to know more (no – about refugees), it is better to know better.

There seems to be a gap between the first response, which was community-wide, where people mobilized in an unprecedented and generous way. It was not only the response of the authorities or international organizations or civil society. It was the whole country.

However, the importance of knowing better becomes clear when you see some of the negative narratives being spread, narratives that criticize the support that refugees receive based on the perception that they have “big cars” and “expensive phones” and so on will not need this support.

There is a gap in understanding of what happened in the meantime. Therefore, presenting how these 95,000 refugees who are in Romania have managed to pass this year and a half, how they have integrated and hope to contribute to Romanian society, is the basis of our campaign.

“Approximately 40% of Ukrainian refugees in Romania work”

Pablo Zapata, representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Romania. PHOTO: Inquam Photos / George Călin

I noticed discussions on the Internet about Ukrainian refugees in Romania, some say that “they are a burden to us, because they sit here without money and do not want to work.” What would you say to those who think so?

This is an example of the narratives I was talking about. However, if we talk about work, the figures we have show that about 40% of refugees in Ukraine are working.

From 25 to 30% of them work remotely at their previous job, which they had in Ukraine or elsewhere, and about 16% are already integrated into the Romanian labor market.

So, out of the 95,000 refugees from Ukraine who are in Romania, 40% of them are already working, and I want to emphasize that these people are using their skills in Romania, earning income, being paid for the work they do abroad, so they bring these resources to Romania and anyway all these refugees spend their money here, they pay taxes like Romanians.

• Read also: How Romanians and Ukrainians see each other eight months after meeting: “Romanians have good taste in cars, I see Mercedes G on every corner”

And regarding the use of funds, there are some minimum standards that have been provided at the EU level in the Temporary Protection Directive that was adopted by Romania and that was activated in the European Union until March 2025.

This document contains a number of rights and responsibilities for refugees. Among these rights we can see social housing or access to social protection, to education – all of them are offered at the same level as for our citizens.

There are certain programs dedicated to refugees, but at the end of the day, we are not talking about additional resources. They are only more visible because they are part of a specific program.

What, in your opinion, are the main obstacles for Ukrainian refugees to get a job in Romania?

On the one hand, you have a paradoxical situation because Romania reportedly needs an additional workforce of over 100,000 workers every year to keep the economy functioning and growing.

And now we have 40-50 thousand Ukrainians of working age in our country, and 80% of them have higher education or diplomas, and 50% of them have already worked in Ukraine.

And those who have qualifications, but did not work in Ukraine, are mostly women who left their professional careers to take care of their families.

There should be a “fit” between the two situations, but it is not happening as quickly as we expected or hoped for, and this is due to two or three factors.

Getting a job or getting access to a job is one factor, and that requires language learning and childcare. If the three elements are not coordinated, then they do not really work.

The economy needs these people, so it’s not that refugees are taking away someone’s job, but on the contrary, refugees can cover a significant part of the existing need.

Are there public or private programs, such as NGOs, that help Ukrainian refugees work their way through Romanian institutions and bureaucracy to achieve their goals?

There are several programs, there is the National Employment Agency with district offices, and there are programs run by non-governmental humanitarian organizations or people like us.

We work together with different partners in two big areas – skills development and supporting refugees in their job search (which means explaining how the system works in Romania, helping them to prepare their resumes, to pass interviews in a way that makes sense in the local labor market) , and the results are inspiring.

And now, in connection with the new state aid package, 50,000 people have registered or expressed a desire to get a job at the National Employment Agency. Personally, I think the number will increase.

I think that the decision to employ a refugee in the host country depends on whether he wants to return to his country or whether he chooses to stay in the host country. From your experience working with refugees: when do they decide to stay? How long do they have to stay in the host country to decide they want to stay there?

There is no specific period. If you will allow me to speak from personal experience, I worked with Kosovo refugees hosted in Albania and the duration of the crisis was short, so almost everyone returned, and returned quickly.

But the longer the situation (something that caused the flight from the country of origin) continues, the more people begin to make new connections and begin to feel more comfortable with the new reality.

I would like to mention a regional survey in which the responses from Romania showed that about 11% of refugees plan to return to Ukraine in the next three months.

In addition, 80% of refugees say they will return when conditions are better. Of the remaining 9%, 4% do not know in which direction to move, and 5% feel safer and enjoy life here than in Ukraine, where the conflict is intensifying, their houses are destroyed, etc.

What do you think about the current programs of the Romanian government for refugees from Ukraine?

Romania was the first country in the European Union to start thinking about mid- and long-term solutions. When the state of emergency was imposed, the Government decided to create a medium and long-term coordination structure.

The most tangible achievement is the two-year National Action Plan for the Protection and Integration of Refugees in Ukraine, which was approved at the end of June last year.

More than 6 million Ukrainians left their country after the war began, and some of them are likely to remain in their adopted countries after the war ends. What do you think will be the attitude of Europeans towards the millions of Ukrainians who will remain in their countries?

This summer, UNHCR released the Global Trends Report, an annual report on the situation of forced displacement around the world. In this document, we see that 70% of refugees choose to stay in neighboring countries, in any part of the world that we look at – the Americas, Asia and Africa.

Romania is currently experiencing just such a situation. Refugees from Ukraine want to stay here because they can quickly return home when the situation improves, or if they need to visit their families who have decided to stay in Ukraine.

And I am glad that the level of acceptance and support for refugees in Romania remains widespread, despite what can be seen on social media.

We see that in various parts of Europe, refugees have integrated very well, they work and contribute to the local economy and social life of these countries.

I would like to call on the Romanian people to continue to show solidarity and goodwill towards the refugees, as they did at the beginning of the war. Refugees still need your generosity until they return home safely.

• Read also: How Ukrainian women who came to Romania because of the war see their future: “We are a burden for Europe and soon they will talk about it”