Has the corona crisis changed perceptions of emigration for good in Romania? There are reasons to think so. The knee-jerk reactions to Romanians returning home during the pandemic were not only caused by fear. Rather, they reflect broader processes of social distancing, set in motion long before the virus appeared on the scene.
In mid-February, when the northern part of Italy went into lockdown because of the Corona virus, many Romanians packed up their bags and returned home. Between February 23 and March 10, an estimated 34,000 Romanians entered the country, returning from Italy, Spain, Germany or the Netherlands. The first to return were those most vulnerable, working in restaurants, the construction sector or in homecare, who had lost their jobs, run out of money, and were driven out by their employers and landlords, or returned by local governments.
They were the lucky ones, the ones still able to travel to Romania, in times where many others were stuck in remote areas where they lived and worked. In this desperate situation, they left for what they still considered home, in search of shelter, companionship and love. They did not expect what they received.
