Romania will receive some 300 migrants from Italy and Greece in 2016, according to Viorel Vasile, head of the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI). There are are currently 104,139 foreign citizens living in Romania, according to Viorel Vasile.

“Last year, it was decided at the EU level for Romania to participate in the relocation of refugees from Italy and Greece. Now, following the connection with the two countries, we’re talking about 160 people from Italy and 135 from Greece. We’ve submitted letters of intent, the necessary checks were made, and now we wait for these people to be sent to Romania,” Vasile said, cited by local Agerpres.

According to him, IGI is ready to interview the refugees and analyze their asylum requests. Moreover, the local authorities have also taken measures to increase the accommodation places in the six asylum centers in Romania. There are 950 accommodation places in these centers and the occupancy rate currently stands at 11%.

Last year, most of the asylum seekers in Romania were Syrian citizens, according to Viorel Vasile.

Romania registered a total of 1,266 asylum applications in 2015, less than the year before when the number of applications reached 1,545. Most of the asylum seekers (541) were from Syria, followed by those from Iraq (214), and Afghanistan (96).

Last year, IGI carried out more than 2,300 actions and controls. For over 2,150 foreigners, the authorities took the decision to send them back to their home countries.

Moreover, 189 foreigners were sent away from Romanian territory under escort, and another 258 were placed under public custody.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com