Romania: Treatment of Romanians who defect while representing the State at sporting events, especially with regards to those under the age of majority
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 November 1989 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | ROM2876 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Romania: Treatment of Romanians who defect while representing the State at sporting events, especially with regards to those under the age of majority, 1 November 1989, ROM2876, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abc57c.html [accessed 22 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
No specific information is currently available to the IRBDC regarding either the treatment of those who defect while representing Romania at sporting events, or those who are under the age of majority upon defection. The following general information applies to exit and return with regards to Romania.
Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights states that "everyone shall be free to leave any country including his own." [ Amnesty International, Romania: Violations of Human Rights, (London: Amnesty International Publications, 1987), p. 17.] Mobility rights are however, said to be "severely limited" in Romania. [ Amnesty International, Romania: Violations of Human Rights, p. 17.] According to one source, "Travel outside Romania is treated as a privilege, frequently arbitrarily withheld...In principle the Government continues to oppose emigration for any purpose but family reunion." In many cases, legal emigration comes about due to U.S. pressure in association with most-favoured-nation status. [ Amnesty International, Romania: Violations of Human Rights, p. 17.] Romanian citizens are restricted in their movements within their own country. They must have residence permits and may not move from one town to another or between city districts without official permission. [ Elzbieta Gozdziak, East to East: Refugees From Rumania in Hungary (Washington: Refugee Policy Group, 1988), p. 5.]
Article 245 of the Romanian Criminal Code deals with the "fraudulent crossing of national boundaries". Those convicted can be sentenced to prison terms between 6 months and 3 years. [Documentation Réfugiés, 15/24 January 1989, p. 8; Amnesty International, "The Imprisonment of Persons Seeking to Leave a Country or to Return to Their Own Country" AI Index: POL 03/02/86; Distr: SC/PG April 1986; Gozdziak, East to East, p. 5; Amnesty International, Romania: Violations of Human Rights, p. 18.] Amnesty International has documented cases where actual sentences ranged between 1 year to 18 months. [ In late 1985, a Romanian was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for illegally crossing the border. He had entered Yugoslavia and had been arrested by the Yugoslav police while trying to contact the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Belgrade. See Amnesty International, Romania: Violations of Human Rights, p. 20. In another instance, a Romanian was arrested by the Hungarian police while trying to cross into Yugoslavia from Hungary, and returned to Romania where he was eventually sentenced to 8 months imprisonment. Ibid.]
Those suspected of trying to leave the country face arrest and detention under the provisions of Article 245. The county court of Timis, at the western edge of the country, tries most Article 245 cases. Amnesty International documented 11 such cases in one day; namely, 11 December 1986. [ Amnesty International, Romania: Violations of Human Rights, p. 19.] Assisting people to leave illegally is also a punishable offence. In one case, a man received a 2 1/2 year sentence for helping his brother cross the border illegally. [ Amnesty International, Cases of Religious and Political Imprisonment, AI Index: EUR 39/15/85, Distr: SC/CO/GR, September 1985, p. 11.]
Article 253 of the Romanian Criminal Code states that those entrusted with a state mission abroad or in possession of state secrets, who fail to return after their assigned period out of the country, face imprisonment of 1 to 7 years. [ *Memorandum from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, "Illegal Departure and Unauthorized Absence as an element in the determination of refugee status," 21 January 1981, p. 10.] (The current application of this law is not clear to the IRBDC. Note that the information provided by the UNHCR in this case is dated 1981.)
In addition, Article 251 of the Criminal Code provides for a prison term of 6 months to 5 years, for "divulging data and information which are State secrets but which are not intended for the public". [ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, "Illegal Departure and Unauthorized Absence".] As one report states, "It could be imagined that applications for asylum abroad, in the course of which applicants usually claim to have been persecuted or discriminated against, could be considered to be slanderous as per paragraph 237, or to divulge information as per paragraph 251." [ Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, "Illegal Departure and Unauthorized Absence".]
Unauthorized absence can also lead punishments of an administrative nature. Those remaining abroad illegally could have their private property confiscated by the state. [ "Romania to Make Emigrants Repay Costs of Education Before Leaving," The International Herald Tribune, January 1987; Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, "Illegal Departure and Unauthorized Absence".] There are also some reports that late returnees are discriminated against in matters of employment. [Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, "Illegal Departure and Unauthorized Absence".]
One source states that some Romanians who left illegally, return home to visit and "most do so without serious difficulty if they have first renounced their Romanian citizenship or have received Government approval as Romanian citizens resident abroad." [ US Department of State: World Refugee Report (Washington, September 1988) p. 61.]
Those who apply to emigrate legally may face a loss of their employment and anonymous threats. [ Amnesty International, Cases of Religious and Political Imprisonment, p. 11; Amnesty International, "The Imprisonment of Persons Seeking to Leave a Country or to Return to Their Own Country" AI Index: POL 03/02/86; Distr: SC/PG April 1986; Amnesty International, Romania: Violations of Human Rights, p. 18; Amnesty International, 1988 Report, p. 211; "Rights group accuses Romania of using harassment, torture," The Globe and Mail, 8 July 1987, p. A1.] Amnesty International describes one case in which an ethnic German man was imprisoned in 1987. He had been requesting legal emigration to West Germany since 1982. [Amnesty International, 1988 Report, p. 211.] In another case, a man was denied a tourist visa because his daughter had left the country illegally. [ Amnesty International: "Imprisonment of Persons Seeking to Leave a Country or Return to their Own Country" (April 1986), p. 14)]
There are also reports of Romanian dissidents being pressured into leaving the country. [ Amnesty International, Romania: Violations of Human Rights, p. 26.]
No further corroborating information is currently available to the IRBDC. Please find attached some selected articles of documentation from the IRBDC files.
