Many Romanians eager to escape rural poverty
Feigned disability is familiar street theatre around Europe
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By Kimmo Oksanen
Even temporary jobs are hard to come by in rural Romania. When the country joined the European Union in 2007, and the borders opened up, young and educated people especially left for countries such as Italy, Spain, Germany, France, and Britain to see if they could have a better life.
More than two million Romanians are believed to be abroad working or seeking work. Some put the figure as high as four million.
The Romanian Roma are also on the move. They might be looking for work, but many end up begging.
The family of Mariana Moldovan reached far-away Helsinki, where the strange new beggars soon became a familiar sight.
Soon people knew that the beggars were also actors. As soon as heads turned away, a crutch might be hoisted on the shoulder of the owner, who would walk briskly to where he or she was staying.
Members of Moldovan and Rostas family have been seen playing roulette in the centre of Helsinki.
How can beggars afford to do that?
The fact is that the beggars do reasonably well in Helsinki. Begging with children in tow and crutches as props is a kind of pan-European tragic street theatre which affords the beggars a fairly reasonable income compared to what they would get at home.
They won't be buying houses with the money, but they do make enough for luxuries such as bananas and soft drinks, as Mariana Moldovan said on Friday in her home village of Ceteatea de Balta.
It is also a fact that Mariana Moldovan, who has begged at least in Italy and France before coming to Finland, is genuinely poor.
The Romanian countryside is full of them. Even if Italy, France, Britain, and Finland keep sending them away, they will always come back.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 16.2.2008
More on this subject:
 Finn working with Roma in Romania does not expect flood of beggars in Helsinki
Previously in HS International Edition:
Majority of residents in Helsinki region want to ban begging (7.1.2008)
Helsinki police find stolen goods in van used by Romanian beggars (19.11.2007)
Beggars on their knees cause consternation on Helsinki streets (21.10.2007)
Authorities powerless to act against beggars with children in tow (7.8.2007)
KIMMO OKSANEN / Helsingin Sanomat
kimmo.oksanen@hs.fi
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