Save the Children: Ukrainian refugees in our country consider Romanians to be welcoming

The majority of Ukrainian refugee children in Romania perceive Romanians as welcoming, despite the obstacles they face in their daily lives. A survey conducted by Save the Children Romania highlights the difficulties related to access to health and education services, as well as the financial challenges faced by refugee families.

The biggest obstacles for Ukrainian children and their families who have found refuge in Romania are those related to access to health services (medical check-ups and medicines), closely followed by housing difficulties (rent and utilities).

Regarding access to education, only 16.1% of parents whose children are enrolled in the Romanian education system believe that they do not face any difficulties at school, and the main difficulties indicated are language barriers (74.9%) and the overload generated by attending two education systems in parallel (34.5%), shows the survey conducted by Save the Children Romania. The high share of families reporting the impossibility or difficulty of covering health-related needs is even more worrying, if we take into account the fact that only 16.7% of respondents mentioned that no member of their family has faced health problems in the last six months. When asked if they feel well connected and integrated into the Romanian community, almost half of the participants in the consultation state that they have not reached this level (47.2%), while only 17% have this feeling of integration (the difference is represented by undecided). Although relatively few respondents feel connected and integrated, over three quarters of them (77.2%) consider Romanians to be welcoming. In contrast, language difficulties, difficulty finding a well-paid job and difficult access to healthcare are reasons that make many respondents feel that Romania cannot become their home, 4 out of 5 families included in the consultation arrived in Romania over a year ago (86.8%), and almost 7 out of 10 (69.7%) have a duration of stay in Romania of over 2 years, while the share of those who have just arrived is very low, only 7% of respondents indicating an interval of less than 6 months since arrival. To date, Save the Children Romania has provided support to 367,500 people, of which 184,800 are Ukrainian children and 182,700 are adults. Save the Children has paid particular attention to providing direct services to children, parents and vulnerable adults, developing rapid interventions to respond to the emergency situation, but also to their integration needs, by offering material and financial support, translation and informational counseling, psychosocial support, as well as guidance and counseling for accessing available rights and services, such as accessing the education system, medical services, jobs or emotional counseling services. Since April 2022, Save the Children, in addition to working points at borders and transit areas, has opened several Integrated Counseling and Service Centers throughout the country to provide assistance to Ukrainian children and their families. In the last three years, 19,496 children and 23,415 adults have benefited from the services offered in these centers.