One in 10 Romanian host families can meet the basic needs of Ukrainian children

Only 10% of parents hosting Ukrainian refugee children in Romania can meet all their basic needs, while 26% can meet most of their needs, and 60% can meet only some or part of their needs, according to an analysis carried out by Save the Children Association throughout February.

Those who responded to the survey included 93% who said they lived in rented flats or houses, 2.86% in government-provided accommodation centres, and 2.39% with private individuals without paying rent.

Of the needs they cannot meet, the survey found the most common (74%) are rent and utility payments, 54% are doctor visits and medication, 43% are clothing and footwear, and 39% are household items.

The survey also found that 34% of children need support in learning the Romanian language, 28% require IT equipment, 15% need school supplies, and 10% need after-school programmes.

Regarding medical care, 37% of respondents said that medical services were accessible, 45% said they were difficult to access, 6% said they had no access at all, 10% said that they did not need these services, and 2% preferred not to answer.

Among the refugees interviewed, 62% said they were unemployed at the time of the survey, 17% said they were employed with a contract in Romania, 11% said they were working remotely for a company outside Romania, 7% said they were employed without a contract, and 3% said they were retired.

According to the analysis, the lack of communication skills in the Romanian language is the main obstacle to employment cited by most refugees from Ukraine (65%), followed by the need to care for a family member (54%).

Another problem refugees face is bureaucratic inertia in Romania, especially at the level of local authorities.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees only started receiving their EU-allocated funds for shelter and food last week, with arrears dating back to July 2023.

Romania is currently hosting more than 135,000 refugees from Ukraine, the majority of whom are women and children, according to the UNHCR.

(Cătălina Mihai | Euractiv.ro)