Romanian immigrants in Italy

We know that for the recent years, the words “immigrant” and “Romanian” had a negative connotation while being put together. Today, we wanted to shed some light on this subject and show how the media manipulates the population by judging a nation based on a few dozens of people. We’d like to start with some general information regarding the situation of the Romanian immigration in Italy.

Concerning Romanian immigration to Italy, in 2004 the official figure of Romanian legal immigrants was 62,300, which made Romania hold the 1st place in the Hierarchy

A report published by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research(NIESR) in 2013 found that the main destination choice for Bulgarian and Romanian nationals was Italy and Spain. Between 2006 and 2007, the year that Romania joined the EU, their Italian presence almost doubled.

In January 2012, Italy lifted labour market restrictions for Romanians and Bulgarians working in the farming, tourism, care work and in the construction industry. "The fact that a country like Italy, undergoing tough austerity measures, took this decision shows that it has realised that Romanian and Bulgarian workers help their economy."

Most Romanian immigrants are professionally skilled people, having obtained their qualifications in their birth country.

However, when questioned, Italians consider there are too many foreigners in their country and they associate immigrants with very poor and dirty people, or even criminals. 65% of Italians would never consider marrying a Romanian, whilst 87% have ruled out the possibility of marrying a Roma.

That being said, we’d like to show you some examples of successful Romanian immigrants living in Italy that shatter the typical stereotypes people have in mind when they think about us.

Ramona Badescu The first person we will talk about is Ramona Badescu. She is a successful actress, singer, model and politician. In 2008, she joined the list of council candidates supporting Gianni Alemanno for Mayor of Rome but did not win. However when Alemanno was elected mayor, he appointed her his Counselor for the Romanian Community’s Integration.

Cristian Chivu Another successful Romanian is the former Ajax, Roma and Inter Milan footballer, Cristian Chivu. He retired in 2014 after winning the Coppa Italia for four seasons with Roma, and a UEFA Champions League in 2010 with Inter. Chivu earned his first of 75 international caps between 1999 and 2010 and was part of Romania’s squads for UEFA European Championships in 2000 and 2008.

Madalina Ghenea Another famous actress and model that is currently living in Milan, Italy is Madalina Ghenea. She appeared in several advertisements including Peroni, New Yorker and Quelle as well as starring in the Italian movie "I Soliti idioti" and Dom Hemingway alongside Jude Law. She also joined the organization “Artists for Peace and Justice” for Haiti relief and the television programme “Ballando con le stele”

Stefan Radu The last one we are going to talk about is Stefan Radu, the former captain of Lazio Roma. Radu made his Lazio debut in a Coppa Italia match versus Fiorentina shortly after joining the team on loan. He has since been a revelation for Delio Rossi's team. By the end of his loan spell, Radu impressed Rossi and club president Claudio Lotito and has now joined the club on a permanent basis. On 17 June 2011 he signed a new five- year contract

Thank you for your time! Ioana, Madalina, Ana-Maria & George