Allocated budget to an adult refugee in Romania in the reception phase

This paper focuses on the estimation of the resources necessary for a person who seeks asylum in Romania and whom is in the reception phase. After the reception phase, each person decides if she wishes to remain on Romanian territory or to continue towards a different destination.

This paper focuses on the estimation of the resources necessary for a person who seeks political asylum in Romania and whom is in the reception phase. After the reception phase, each person decides if she wishes to remain on Romanian territory or to continue towards a different destination.

At the request of the Asylum Department of the Romanian Government, we calculated the amount of money needed by an asylum seeker (Chapter 6, Article 55 on Food Allowance), information which was necessary for the Government Decision for amending and completing the Methodological Norms of the Law no. 122/2006 on asylum in Romania (Ministry of Interior) to be adopted in the Parliament. The draft law was subsequently approved in its current form (Romanian Government, 2016).

In order to approximate consumption needs we started from the normative method for a decent minimum standard of living (food, clothing / footwear, housing, services). The normative method, adopted by the Research Institute for Quality of Life (Mihăilescu, 2012), allows for a better approach to a person’s needs because it takes into consideration the consumption patterns existing in society. The calculated amounts do not rely on the consumption levels recorded at a moment in time, but on a decent minimum standard for social reintegration. Estimates of resource needs are reported for September 2016

Calculation of the material needs for a refugee in Romania, at the reception stage. Expenses for food and clothing, housing expenses and services expenses will be taken into account.

1. Food consumption is estimated at 2400 calories, according to studies conducted by the Institute of Hygiene and Public Health (Mincu, 1975; Gonţea, 1975) (Annex 1), for a reduced physical effort, given the status of inactive person pending the court decision for the granting of documents of legal entry on Romanian territory, including the National Personal Number (CNP), as well as the period of granting the right to reside as a refugee. The amount of food expenditure corresponding to September 2016 is 304 lei/month and 10,1 lei/day, and this amount is different for some vulnerable categories of people, as follows:

a) 402 lei/month, 13,4 lei/day for pregnant asylum seeker, as well as for the sick, during their hospitalization (in accordance with the recommendation of supplementing by 860 calories / day, 32,3% more than the 2400 calories norm);

b) 413 lei/month, 13,7 lei/day for asylum seekers pregnant between the 5^th and 9^th month or who gave birth and does not breastfeed the child up to one year old (in accordance with the recommendation of supplementing by 860 calories/day, 35,8% more than the 2400 calories norm);

c) 459 lei/month, 15,3 lei/day for asylum seekers who gave birth and breastfeed the child up to one year old (in accordance with the recommendation of supplementing by 1225 calories/day, 51% more than the 2400 calories norm);

d) 454,4 lei/month, 15,2 lei/day for all children under five months old who are in the care of one or both of the parents (in accordance with the recommendation of supplementing by 1190 calories/day);

e) 509,2 lei/month, 17,0 lei/day for all children between 6 and 12 months old who are in the care of one or both refugee parents in Romania (supplementing by 1650 calories/day).

Following these recommendations, law-makers approximated these values to the closest natural value (Romanian Government, 2016).

2. Monthly expenses with clothing and footwear (Appendix 2) total 66 lei / month during spring and summer, and 98 lei/month during autumn and winter (October –March).

3. Monthly living expenses are calculated for a dwelling with electricity and telephone. In compliance with the minimum decent living standards, 450 lei (equivalent to 100 Euros) can be granted for one person, couple or parent/grandparent with a child renting; the amount decreases by 30% for the third person sharing the rented space and by 40% starting with the fourth person.

4. Monthly expenses with services amount to 176 lei (Annex 3) and include: local transport, cultural services (press, radio, and TV subscription), personal hygiene (services plus hygienic items), and repair and maintenance services.

Bibliography

Iancu Gonțea (1975) Alimentaţia raţională a omului modern [Rational nutrition of the modern human beings], Editura Didactică şi Pedagogică, Bucureşti.

Guvernul României (2016) Hotararea Guvernului nr. 14 din 19 ianuarie 2016 pentru modificarea şi completarea Normelor metodologice de aplicare a Legii nr. 122/2006 privind azilul în România, aprobate prin Hotărârea Guvernului nr. 1.251/2006 [Governmental Decision no. 14 from January 19th, 2016 for modifying and complementing the Methodological Rules for applying Law nr. 122/2006 about asylum in Romania, which were instated through Governmental Decision nr. 1251/2006], available online: http://www.monitoruljuridic.ro/act/hot-r-re-nr-14-din-19-ianuarie-2016-pentru-modificarea-i-completarea-normelor-metodologice-de-aplicare-a-legii-nr-122-2006-privind-azilul-n-rom-nia-aprobate-prin-hot-r-rea-guvernului-175266.html [06.02.1018].

Adina Mihăilescu (2012) Coşul de consum al populaţiei României [Consumption basket of Romania’s population], Editura Expert, Bucureşti.

Iulian Mincu (1975) Alimentaţia raţională a omului sănătos [Rational nutrition of the healthy human being], Editura Medicală, Bucureşti.

Ministry of Internal Affairs, Proiect de Hotărâre a Guvernului pentru modificarea şi completarea Normelor metodologice de aplicare a Legii nr. 122/2006 privind azilul în România, aprobate prin Hotărârea Guvernului nr. 1251/2006 [Governmental Decision Project for modifying and complementing the Methodological Rules for applying Law nr. 122/2006 about asylum in Romania, which were instated through Governmental Decision nr. 1251/2006, available online: http://www.mai.gov.ro/documente/transparenta/HG%20122_2006_15102015.pdf [06.02.1018].

Appendix 1. The detailed structure of food expenses for an adult.

Food costs include: milk products and milk derivatives, meat products and meat derivatives, eggs, oil and lard, vegetables, fruits, sugar, sweets and coffee (1 cup / day), conform to the data set by the specialists nutritionists from the Institute of Hygiene and Public Health in Bucharest. Food estimations correspond to 2,400 calories / day / adult who does not carry out an activity but are in the reception phase.

Source: Author’s calculations.

Appendix 2. The detailed structure of clothing / footwear expenses for an adult.

Non-food expenses are at a minimum: clothing and footwear costs for the cold and the warm season. The table contains the author’s estimates.

     Source: Author’s calculations.

Annex 3. The detailed structure of the services expenses

This category of expenses refers to transport services, cultural activities, repair and maintenance of clothing and footwear, personal hygiene services and medical expenses, first-aid medicines only.

  Source: Author’s calculations.