Foreign workers brought from Asia to work in Romania have to endure a lot in the country. The biggest problems seem to be in the Horeca industry, which, although it can’t find enough workers, many employers are quite rude to those who provide their bottom line.

The situation is not normal. Besides what you read recently on HotNews.ro about some employers “confiscating” their passports, there is a big fight for workers.

As a result, in certain situations, through the agencies that brought Asians to the country, some were employed in various other restaurants and hotels due to the obligation of the company owners to extend their residence permits.

*Not everyone does what we describe below, we are not generalizing, only some do, the situation is confirmed by several sources in the market.

Some Horeca employers lie to Asians that they will extend their residence permit

Horeka-employers prefer to take Asians who are already in the country from other companies, because it is easier to bring someone directly from there, prepare the necessary documents, etc. It is about thousands of euros. It takes a lot of time and money (in some areas they talk about 5000 – 7000 euros).

HotNews.ro recently wrote about the delays in the second part of the article, which tells how IGI overreached with the Filipino nanny.

Workers from the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Nepal are waiting for new Romanian employers who took/hired them to extend their residence permits. They are promised this, but they are no longer called to the immigration service, they say that they will be represented by lawyers.

Nothing happens, they continue to work for months until the authorities discover they are there illegally and send them back to their countries.

Why do some entrepreneurs do it and what are the salaries in the industry

Some entrepreneurs know that the Romanian state keeps records of their former employers, so hired Asian workers do not need to submit documents immediately.

Sri Lankans or Filipinos cannot go to the immigration office, especially since they are interested in staying here as long as possible to send money home. They cannot risk being deported.

In addition, employees are paid a modest salary according to the labor book (generally minimal for the economy), the rest is “black”, that is, on hand. This money goes to families in Sri Lanka, the Philippines or Nepal.

If we look at the salary, an Asian worker earns in a restaurant as a chef’s help, for example, 450-500 euros net plus overtime.

In hotels, Asian maids earn about 500 euros per month.

Asian workers suffer the most from such situations. The authorities should do a better job of protecting them from such abuses.

Observing such situations, it is normal for the authorities to panic if we enter Schengen. Because of these conditions, the attitude of individual entrepreneurs and the lack of state protection, Asians will use Romania only as a gateway to the EU. We won’t be able to keep them here, and that’s okay if we look at what’s happening in the market.

Yes, we are not as primitive as we were hundreds of years ago, when slaves were still brought and bought for personal gain. I have evolved.

But we must move towards a new type of evolution where we begin to respect working people, regardless of the work they do.

Photo source: DreamTime.com