Romania prepares for the refugee wave: Timisoara university wants to offer free language courses to refugees

A university in Romania wants to help the refugees who are to come to the country to integrate more easily. The West University of Timisoara (UVT) has showed its willingness to organize free courses of Romanian language and culture for the immigrants distributed to Romania. The Romanian authorities have set up two temporary camps for refugees close to Timisoara in the past days, as the European Union has decided that more than 4,000 refugees will be sent to Romania. “Their social and cultural integration is very important. We can’t continue to talk about them only in numbers. No matter how many immigrants Romania will receive, the country’s ability to integrate them will be tested to its limits. We’ve launched this initiative as we have relevant experience and realize how important it is for these people to learn the language and the culture,” said Marilen Pirtea, rector UVT. The university is already organizing preparatory years for foreign students who come to Timisoara and want or need to learn the Romanian language. Around 150 foreign students use the UVT services every year, to learn the country’s language and its culture, according to a statement of the university. The free courses will help immigrants to adapt more easily to the Romanian society, and would facilitate access to education. Romania has to receive 4,873 refugees and, according to the Romanian President, the country can easily manage the refugee problem. The Romanian authorities have already set up a camp for refugees near the Moravita and Lunga villages in Timis county, close to Romania's border with Serbia, which is where the refugees are expected to come from. Romania's Ministry of Internal Affairs has asked the Red Cross to send 87 large tents to the two camps, as well as 246 beds, 1,000 food packages, and 960 personal hygiene packages, according to Lucian Trif, a representative of the Red Cross in Timis county, quoted by Digi 24 news station. The two camps can temporarily accommodate about 1,000 refugees while they will be processed by the Romanian authorities, before being sent to permanent camps. The president of the Timis county council said on Wednesday that the setting up of the two camps was only a simulation and that they would be removed if no refugees come to Romania in the following days. More than half of Romanians believe that Romania should not receive refugees. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com