Oppressed Romanians Flee to Sanctuary in Hungary

As a result of Hungary’s liberal policies toward the East Bloc’s political and economic refugees, an increasing number of Romanians are risking jail--and occasionally the bullets of border guards--in order to escape into Hungary.

About 20,000 Romanians are registered as refugees here, many of them ethnic Hungarians fleeing the repressive policies of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, who is systematically destroying Hungarian villages in Transylvania in an attempt to force the villagers into industrial cities.

Although the ethnic Hungarians have been absorbed here with relative ease because they speak Hungarian, officials say the real problem lies with the number of non-Hungarian Romanians fleeing across the border--a number increasing daily.

Many, they say, have been lured by the news that about 20,000 East German refugees have been allowed by Hungary to emigrate to West Germany.

The problem with the non-Hungarian Romanians, however, is that no third country is ready to accept them. The East Germans have all been granted automatic West German citizenship.

“It is a problem that is worsening every day,” said Laszlo Kovacs, who is Hungary’s deputy foreign minister. “In August, 50% of the Romanians coming here were non-Hungarians. That means they do not know the language. They have trouble getting jobs here. They do not want to stay here. They want to go on to a third country. In the meantime, we must take care of them.”

Next month, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees will open an office in Budapest, the first allowed to operate in an East Bloc country. Hungarian officials say they hope the office will help speed the Romanian refugees on to permanent settlement in other countries.

About 4,000 Romanians have been settled at a transient camp in the town of Bicske, near Budapest. Another large group of refugees is housed in the city of Debrecin in eastern Hungary.

Most new arrivals make their way to Budapest, where a government office has been established near the central bus station. Officials there try to find accommodations for them and, if possible, employment.

“We are getting about 65 new arrivals every day,” said Ferenc Nemeth, who heads the office. “About half of them are non-Hungarian-speaking Romanians, and for them it is very hard.

“Most of them are unskilled workers, mostly with only primary-school education. They want to go on to somewhere else, so it is difficult to find them jobs. Some people don’t want to hire them because they know they will leave soon. We find them jobs doing unskilled work in construction, sweeping, working in kitchens, whatever we can.”

Nemeth said his office gives priority in the hunt for housing to families with children. Because of a severe housing shortage in Budapest, where waiting lists for apartments range from 10 to 15 years, most are sent to smaller towns and cities across the country.

Single men, who represent the majority of the refugees, are often housed in worker hostels, three or four to a room.

Among the Romanians crowding the office Monday were three young men who had spent the last three nights in the main train station in Budapest. They had crossed the border together Thursday night, they said, crawling the last several hundred yards through plowed fields, their escape aided by ground fog.

“If they had caught us,” said one of the men, 20-year-old Edmund Cleci, “they would have beaten us and thrown us in jail for nine months.” Cleci said he spoke from experience, because this was his second escape attempt.

“It is impossible to live there,” said a 21-year-old named Marton, who asked that his last name not be used. “There is nothing. There is no meat. In the market there are only plums. Some people have potatoes now, if they have a garden, but there is nothing in the market.”

Another man, Stefan, 23, put in: “And when you work, you get paid nothing for your work. There is no hope for Romania now. That is what most of us think. If there was, I would not have left.”

“The situation is so bad,” Cleci said, “that most people think it cannot get worse.”

“Romania is racist,” charged Ladislau Sirb, 24, who escaped from Romania two months ago and has been working as a painter on a construction project. “They have taken away our schools, they have taken down the street signs in Hungarian, they want to remove the Hungarian language from us.”

The three new arrivals came with only the clothes on their backs. The soles of Cleci’s sneakers were peeling off in layers, but he smiled, as though his fortunes were already taking a turn for the better.

“They are sending us to the Red Cross for some clothes and to a church for some money,” he said.

He looked at Sirb, smiled, and added: “Our friend here says we may get a job where he is working. We can paint with him.”