PM Orban on Ditrau anti-foreigner sentiment flare-up case: Seeking observance of law, fundamental rights and freedoms

Chairman of the National Liberal Party (PNL), Prime Minister Ludovic Orban, said on Monday that the authorities have taken efficient action in the Ditrau (Harghita County) case and that compliance with the law and the fundamental rights and freedoms of the citizens are being pursued in this situation.

"Action has been taken, of course, not accompanied by blathering political statements, as others have done. As far as we are concerned, we have acted efficiently and the solution reached is by no means the one others would have hoped for. (...) We will pursue what is normal to pursue, the observance of the law, of the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens, yet without giving this a political twist," the PM said.

The Harghita County Police Inspectorate has opened a hate and incitement to discrimination criminal case after about 200 Ditrau locals gathered in front of the mayor's office building on Wednesday, unhappy that a local bread bakery has hired two Sri Lankan workers; the locals claim they fear this is the starting signal for migrants to come to the community, "impose their culture" on them and put their safety at jeopardy.

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Hundreds of villagers of Ditrau commune in Harghita county, Romania, staged protests last week because a bread factory in the locality had hired two employees from Sri Lank. The locals said they fear ‘a wave of refugees might come in their commune to impose their culture and jeopardize the safety of the villagers.’

Kollo Katalin, one of the owners, said that she had initially proposed a deal to the residents of the village for fear the conflict might degenerate and the men from Sri Lanka will get hurt, but, after seeing the locals do not accept their offer, they decided that the bakers can remain in the manufacturing process.

The woman said though that the two Sri Lankan bakers fear the locals’ anger, and also the other employees of the bread factory fear the villagers.

“We have other workers who have been threatened for working with the Sri Lankan men. We have other 90 people working in Ditrau”, Kollo stated.

As two landlords who accommodated the two Sri Lankan workers in Ditrau had even received threats from the villagers, the owners of the bread company decided to relocate the foreign workers to another locality, Gheorghieni.

In the villagers’ camp, the reasons why they don’t want the Sri Lankan are not quite clear. Some argue the arrival of the foreign workers to their commune will open the gate for more and even for refugees. Others claim they do not having anything against the Sri Lankan bakers, but they just don’t want Piumal and Amahinda touch the bread with ‘their black hands’.

In his turn, the Roman-Catholic priest from Ditrau, Birok Karoly, criticised even by the Roman-Catholic Archbishop of Alba Iulia, who said the local “had got involved in a conflict that exceeds his powers”, said he acted as his conscience had dictated him and that he had no regrets and assumed his stance. Priest Bírók Károly was the leader of the protesters from Ditrau who protested in front of the town hall.

Moreover, Kelemen Hunor, the leader of UDMR, the political union that represents the Magyar community in Parliament, has somehow blamed the priest for inflaming things in the locality. He said that one cannot label an entire community in Ditrau “because of an excited priest and of some persons whose stance cannot be endorsed and accepted“. “I tell the locals in Ditrau to stay calm, to reject manipulation and any for of extremism”, Kelemen Hunor added.

During the weekend, the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) announced they are notified over this case over alleged racism and discrimination.

Harghita Police has also announced that it had opened a criminal case for charges of discrimination and incitement to hatred in Ditrau.

Moreover, the Labour Inspectorate from Harghita is conducting a check at the bakery in Ditrau, following criticism launched by some villagers who had been former employees of the factory, according to which the wages were low and working conditions were bad.

Labour minister Violeta Alexandru has also taken stand.

“I am surprised by the attitude of the local community regarding these two men who want to work, as locals forget our Romanians are also working abroad and maybe they are at risk of being treated the same. We have to be balanced in our views, like Romanian working abroad need respect, the same we must respect those who come to work in Romania,” the minister said.

Asked if the two Sri Lankan should stay at this job, the minister replied that “it is the decision of the factory owner, as it’s a private employer”.

The major case of discrimination caused national debate and prompted action from state authorities."Ditrau" case of racism against foreign workers in Romania not a first, recruiter says

A recent case of racial discrimination against Sri Lankan workers in Romania, which made waves over the past week, is far from being the first, a representative of a recruitment company has told HotNews.ro.

Romulus Badea, a partner at Soter&Partners, a recruitment company who brings foreign workers to Romania, said the Ditrau case is not an isolated one. He provided several examples which drew less media attention in the past:

• The case of a family of tourists who caused a scandal at a hotel in Valcea county, when they saw the facility employed Sri Lankan workers for cleaning activities. The family eventually accepted accommodation there.

• The case of a restaurant in downtown Cluj, a major Romanian city, where a number of Sri Lankan workers were also employed.

• The case of a factory near Bucharest, where an employee reported false data on Sri Lankan workers in her administrative tasks, with the purpose of them receiving lower salaries - the employer eventually dismissed that worker who "could not fathom working with foreigners."

The recruiter told HotNews.ro that the current case in Ditrau has reached Sri Lanka, where his partner there was surprised to see the case blow up in the media, as he had heard of smaller cases which were dealt with quietly.

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