The study sets out to understand why do forced migrants who fled to Europe in search for asylum refuse to receive protection and to settle in Romania, although they are given the means to live in peace and with dignity. The problem formulation is addressed by looking at the factors that affect the asylum seeker’s destination choices. The pull factors, which attract the forced migrant to a certain country of destination, are chosen from numerous studies and collected together in a theoretical framework of pull factors.
The investigations shed light on the fact that, on most instances, the asylum seekers use Romania solely as a transit country and already have a different destination in mind when passing through Romania. They would apply for asylum in Romania only if apprehended by the border police and only for the purpose of avoiding being sent in the closed detention center. Even after applying for asylum, some would still manifest their refusal towards Romania as a destination country and continue their journey irregularly to another destination.
The analysis concluded that there are many reasons that contribute to the asylum seeker’s refusal of Romania as a destination, but that there is one reason that distinguishes itself, as being more important than all the others and as being the crucial factor. The main factor that is keeping asylum seekers away from Romania is the economic opportunity that they have to build a new life in this country.