Pavillons Job Application - DOC

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SSHA, Chicago, nov.19-22 1998

Settelement in the mobility:
The Migration to France of Romanian Peasants from the Oas Region: Social Usage of an
Economic Handicap or Economic Usage of a Social Handicap?

Dana Diminescu
FMSH - Paris

Having an ancient grammer of mobility (in the Oas area the peasants moved frecuently every
season in order to find forest jobs) and being tied to the effects of proximity-distance (the Oas
area being locted on the North-West border of Romania, it is geographically favorable to
multiple interactions due to border crossing), the peasents have started exploring the labour
market: first in Yugoslavia and then , in chronological order of penetration in Austria, Germany,
Italy, France, Belgium,Sweden, Norway, England, Grece and even Canary Island going through
Spain. Slowly a migratory circuit that extends as far as in Israel was created under a touristic
pretext . Another more important one appeared in US using private invitation or making use of
the network of the diffrent religious sect.

The aim of this paper is to present you this case of this migratory peasants, this movement
which is half officialy, half illigally, neither pendular, and neither definitive, this group which is not
clearly definet, with a project of returning and not to stay definitively in an other country, with the
appearance of a refugees movement, with the look like new Romanien diaspora but with only a
local loyality.

The Migration to France of Romanian Peasants from the Oas Region: Social Usage of an
Economic Handicap or Economic Usage of a Social Handicap?

The migration of Romanian peasants from the Oas region to France started in 1992 with a
group of seven men. 
"In 1992 I was the first in my village to leave for France. There were all in all seven of us. The
trip was handled by the Dom Tour travel agency in Bucharest. Each of us paid 105,00 lei, which
at the time amounted to about 600 DM. We left legally, by train. In France I worked illegally as
a logger for a guy from Portugal," says GB, 30 years of age, from the village of Certeze,
Oas)<UL><UL>
After the return of the seven pioneers, other groups of Oas peasants left for France in 1993;
their importance lies not in their number but in their role as vanguard, pathfinders, explorers and
experimenters. The first ones to arrive on French territory looked for work mostly in the timber
industry and on farms, but they also targeted building sites, the distribution of advertising
materials, household jobs, etc. They tried to showcase and market their legendary physical
strength they are so proud of. In France, however, " it's hard to find a job even as an illegal
worker," stated the same G B.. Having to weather periods of unplanned "unemployment," the
peasants thus came to realise that they could make a living by selling street press--provisionally,
they hoped. 
Street Tabloid publications debuted in France in 1993; the first to hit the market was the Parisian
"Macadam," sold by high-pitch vendors recruited from among the homeless. It came out on 11
May 1993 and the next day it was available in Brussels, too, only to be followed by other
representatives of the self-styled "reinsertion press" like: La Rue, Le Réverbère and Faim de
Siecle</UL> 
The activity these homeless individuals engaged in has, as a matter of fact, long been known as
newspeddling. If there is anything original about it, it has to do with object of the sale and the
sale itself as a procese--because what is being actually purchased is not only a product like
Macadam but also the vendor's status as a homeless, jobless individual. 
If Macadam is, by all accounts, the French pioneer of press created for and distributed by the
homeless, its concept is based on such publications in the English-speaking world as "Street
News" in New York and its London spin-off, "The Big Issue." 
The American publication debuted in 1989 and two years later it already sold over 100,00
copies a month. Of the $1.00 price per copy the vendor retained 66%. 
The Big Issue, distributed throughout the United Kingdom, first came out as a monthly magazine
in September of 1991, then as a weekly printed in over 100,000 copies. Created as a forum for
ideas and initiatives against socio-cultural exclusion, it soon became a commercial success; the
proceeds are to be invested in social projects targeting the homeless. The slew of street
publications to hit the French market after 1993 includes Faim de Siècle, Génération Sida,
Spectacle d'Ile de France, Charlie Hebdo, Sans-Abri, Le Galérien, 10 Balles, Eur Pass, Le
Belvèdere. 
With the same intent of "fighting exclusion," the homeless of other
European countries started asserting themselves in public life by means of publications like
Terra di mezzo et l''Isciu in Italy, Strassenfeger, hinz und Kunzt, Bankexpress, Adler-Espressen
in Germany, La Farola in Spain, Nemo in Belgium, etc. 
What distinguishes the French model is the multiplication of titles both nationally and locally.
Despite a few differences (in format, editorial organisation and policies), these publications react
as a whole to the phenomenon of social exclusion by providing a form of income for the
homeless, so that the more publications the latter sell, the more money they make. Further
common points are to be found in the administration of the publication-selling circuit,
relationships with vendors (hiring policies, ID.s, work contracts, badges with the publication's
name on them), management of

distribution (wholesale or retail, areas of distribution in public spaces excluding railway- and
underground public-transportation stations, timetable of individual vendors), status of vendors
(individuals in difficulty, homeless, migrants, etc.).

Since the end of 1993 publications like Macadam (today 20 Romanien vendors), Le Réverbère
(since september 1992 roughly 200 Romanian vendors) along with Le Lampadaire, which in
1996 became L'Itinerant (since december 1997, 2000 Romanian vendors), have provided the
Oas peasants with their "raison d'etre" as migrants in France.

As a rule, the peasant arrive in Paris with the intention of engaging in seasonal work. But how
do they accomplish their objective? Since May of 1998 the solution has more often than not
been to take advantage of the time it takes immigration authorities to approve or reject an
application for political asylum (anywhere from 3 to 9 months). Since their legal status as
asylum-seekers precludes them from working in France but does allow them to collect certain
social-assistance benefits, the peasants have taken advantage of the half-legal, half-illegal
opportunity provided by street-publications and have jockeyed themselves to benefit by the "aid
for the homeless" as if it were a real job. The originality and economic importance of this "crisis
market" with charitable objectives is subsequently assessed in conjunction with the overall
success of the peasants' sejourn in France.

2. The Status of Romanian Vendors

As C. Baarats (1996) observes, the proliferation of street-press publications and harsh
competition have resulted in a rivalry among them which is at odds with the very definition of a
press whose primary objective is to combat social exclusion.

Frequently, the attacks focused on Romanian vendors. The competitive nature of French street
press is indicative of what a high-stakes market the streets have become. In this context,
Romanian vendors are in general disciplined and focused, which makes their distribution
network a highly effective one.

Le Réverbère speaks of "Romanian maffia".

After losing a battle against Romanian vendors and dedicating to them an entire page written
and highlighted in Romanian (see attachment), Le Réverbère try again to draw the peseants
founding another street-press pubication Le Belvédere which "champions the cause of
Romanian exiles in France and not the cause of Romanian or French crooks who exploit
them" (see attachment).

Le Belvedere claims that it helps Romanians in the following way: it is published by a Canadian
entrepreneur with the special purpose that Romanian exiles sell it and thus acquire the funds
they need to emigrate to the fabulous country of all opportunities called Canada (...)
This first issue bombed, because neither the Romanian migrants nor the French homeless
ventured to sell such a publication.

As for La Rue, its irritation vis-a-vis Romanian vendors took the form of a report.
Commissioned by the club of La Rue's partners , L. Duroy observes in a 1995 survey of street
press that " the war between le Réverbère and L'Itinerant was conducive to the emergence of a
network of illegal vendors: Romanians, Yugoslavs, Poles, etc."; he gives the example of a Le
Réverbère seller near Ponte de Sevre who " speaks just a few French words, lives in the
caravans stationed in the Université de Nanterre area and whose tourist visa has by and large
expired."

This seller is easy to identify as a Romanian Gypsy. Le Réverbère, very much like Le
Lampadaire, would do anything to boost sales; furthermore, many frustrated Romanian engage
in selling Le Lampadaire, so that these two publications are marketed mostly by foreigners of
irregular backgrounds (expired-visa holders, illegal immigrants, etc.)

As soon as the crisis of street publications started in the spring of 1997, two issues of
Macadam (53/ 1997 and 55 /1998) attacked illegal Romanian vendors: first the Gypsies, who
despite the racist reputation of Le Reverbere continue selling it under its revamped Spanish title
of Euro Pass; then the peasants of Maramuresh (a geographic mistake for Oas) engaged
mostly in the distribution of
L'Itinerant.

But are Romanian vendors illegal aliens?

It is difficult to imagine an individual with serious legal problems engaging in a high-visibility
activity such as newspaper vending as long as what is being sold is not only the street
publication itself, but also the image of the vendor as an individual marginalized by society.

A survey of L'Itinerant has shown that all Romanian vendors
have the status of political-asylum seekers and that at the moment of requesting a badge with
the name and colors of the publication they intend to distribute their status is that of perfectly
legal aliens on French territory. If there is anything illegal about them, it has to do with their
status as homeless street vendors. Pressured by the market, street publications have
retroactively and arbitrarily provided their distributors with the status of newsvendor/pedlar

City authorities may thus issue a vendor's card and under article 22 of a law passed on 3
January 1991, "the individuals designated as newsvendors or pedlars...are independent workers
while practising their activity in their own name and on behalf of a publisher, an agent or a
distributor." Such a status implies that the vendors make a voluntary statement of their sales,
pay their dues and collect social-assistance benefits, while as political-asylum seekers they are
not permitted to work in France--and the vicious circle goes on and on. 
 
3. Social usage of an Economic handicap or economic usage of a social handicap?

"Would you describe selling newspapers as work?" we asked the Oasan migrants we surveyed.
The answers were both yes and no. "Yes, it's a trade; I buy the newspaper for 2 FF and sell it
on for 10 F." Or: "No, it's a form of begging; the buyer'll give me my 10 F but will not take the
paper." "It's not work, it's a solution to a problem" (CS, 20 years of age, from the village of
Certeze).

Strangely enough, the subject's dignity as an individual and his credibility as a street vendor are
thus competing against each other. In order to regain his dignity, the street vendor must,
initially at least, reassert his desocialised condition. His real social identity does not shine
through at the moment of his interaction with the newspaper buyer. "The eyes of the man who
sells me L'Itinerant are red with cold; his hands and his feet are frozen," writes Mme etc (see
attachments). The person that the gentle lady describes here is in fact a homeless individual
whose identity and real history are not at all manifest during the exchange represented by
newspaper purchase. An answer to the question is selling streed newspapers a work? could
come from the newspaper buyer. One knows who the publishers and the sellers of street
journals are, but one may still wonder about the identity of the actors who close the economic
circuit of street vending.

Field observation and vendor surveys have shown that the clientele for street newspapers is
aged and mostly female; it is desocialised and discriminated within itself; its constituents are
retirees, immigrants, young people in difficulty, etc.

A survey of newspaper buyers has led us to conduct research in the archive of lettres sent to
L'Itinérant. Besides a large number of commercial ads and unsolicited texts sent in for
publication, we found messages from readers interested in the very content of L'Itinérant.

These letters have shown that the buyers like to have and meet with "their own vendor" who has
become part of , so to say, "their supermarket reality." Well beyond the purely economic aspect,
the street-press selling thus acquires a social dimension indicative of a practical and emotional
interaction between Romanian migrants and French people. The primary intention of Romanian
migrants who sell street press is to earn as much money as possible before returning to their
home village. R. Benattig and O. Brachet (1998) have shown in "Report on the Migratory
Dynamics of Romanians" that street-press selling is one of several money-earning practices--
like washing the windscreen of stopped cars, resale of underground tickets, playing music in the
street, panhandling, and other such more or less legal activities--the common denominator of
which is not so much helping the migrant survive in France as providing him with means to
improve his and his family's lifestyle/finance their needs after his return to his homeland.

Romanian Gypsies and peasants from Oas are not the only groups to do so. In Berlin it is
common to see Polish students on break or Russian skinheads clean windshields at traffic
lights. see S. Butscher, Euroconference 1998, Sintra)

Rather surprisingly, France exerts a complex attraction/repellence on migrants attempting to
engage in money-earning practices. Besides the difficulty of accessing the job-market one
should consider the various myths and representations of Western Europe which explain and
ultimately contribute to East-European populaces hitting the road with the clear intention of
earning some money abroad.

The humanitarian aid that poured into Romania after the collapse of Communism occasioned
such a media circus that it became a major constituent of the imaginary infrastructure of
migration and of mental representations about the Western World. Other constituents such as
cooperation with Western nations, investments by foreign companies, the concept of co-
development, etc. also play a role, even if a significantly less important one. 
But more than anything, it is the model of the mobile and prosperous actor who returns to his
village after succeeding in earning money abroad that puts to rest all questions about the
morality of such practices and results in further projects of migration.

3. A "pendular" society

The Oas peasants who buy street press for 2 to 4 F an issue and resell it for 10 F have
managed to create a highly effective distribution network. Their migration area throughout
France practically overlaps with the distribution of L'Itinérant.

The migratory circuit must always include a Post Office address provided by authorized
agencies. 
If in 1993-94 Romanian migrants used the addresses provided by
the Red Cross, later they started availing themselves of the services of organization such as
France Terre d'Asile and Mission Catholique Roumaine. At the MCR headquarters we
discovered a garbage bag packed with police tickets issued to travellers who had not paid their
fares. These tickets constitute a precious archive of the exceptional mobility ( a pendular
mouvement profile) of the Oas peasants throughout France. The starting point of most
itineraries is the Parisian region.

Living in groups whose common denominator is the members' status within the same village,
street or family, the oas peasants take refuge in abandoned buildings all over the outskirts of
Paris: Nanterre, Maisons Faffite, Saint Denis, Aulnay-S/Bois, La Courneuve, Montreuil,
Fontenay aux-Roses, Versailles urmeaza lcoalitatile
The buildings are nothing but dormitories. The peasants leave them early in the morning and
return late at night after the closing time of the supermarkets in front of which they sell their
street publications. We also noted a pendular movement towards Paris, associated with the
network of the Metro; the opposite movement was radial and it followed the railway network.

Some routes are short (20-40 km), and they correspond to movements within the zones 5 and 8
of Paris; these are the Osan peasants' most frequent itineraries. But the police tickets also
attest to longer travels of over 100 km, such as Nanterre-Reims, Versaille-Orleans, Paris-
Rouen and in a few case even to Marseille, Toulouse, Brussel

4. Basic data on migrants from the Oas area.

During the first period from autumn of 1993 to autumn of 1994, the migrants are all males, but in
September of 1994 a group of 40 Oas peasants arrives in Paris, 12 of whom are females. In
April of 1995 the number grows to approximately 840, 8% of whom are female; 9% teenagers
from 12 to 16 years of age, and the rest males between the ages of 17 and 60. These statistics
are the result of an empirical survey conducted in the abandoned housed where oas peasants
lived at the beginning of 1995. 
 
In December of 1997 we had the opportunity of accessing the archives of I'Itinétant and thus
find material which covers the three-year period from the end of 1994 to the end of 1997. In
order to obtain seller status, the candidates must produce some form of ID. Since 1995 they
have had to sign a vending contract and have received a badge. Romanian migrants produce
proof of requesting political-refugee status.

Of a sample of 1000 Romanians to sell L'Itinerant, we found;

• 777 individuals hailing from Oas and 53 from the neighbouring area of
Maramures.
The remaining 170 came from the Banat, Oltenia, Bistrita and
Moldavia
• 32% (316 individuals) are females, of who 87% are married, 1.2% divorced,2,4
widowed and 8,7 single

• 68% (684 individuals) are males, of whom 57% are married, 42% single, 0.1%
divorced.

• The medium age for both males and females is 33.

• There is a growth in number of entries into France for the months of September,
October and November.

Most of the surveyed subjects were on their second stay in France. Since 1994
migration into France has intensified and period the migrants stay abroad has acquired new
features. Dependent as it is on the time it takes immigration authorities to handle political-
asylum requests, the migrants' sojourn has extended from 3 to 9 months. The season of
migration has changed, too, in that it is the winter months that have the highest street-press-
vending potential and have thus become the peak season for migration.

According to our survey's informants , the Oas migrants left Romania and crossed into France
on the following itineraries:
1. Ukraine-Poland-Germany-France (taken the most frequently)
2. Hungary-Czech Republic- Germany- France
3. Hungary-Austria-Germany-France
4. Hungary-Austria-Italy-France
5. Hongrie- Slovenia- Italy-France ( rarely)
6. Bulgaria- Greece -Italy- France Bulgaria ( rarely)

In its turn France is sometimes the point of origin for further migrations to Canada, the US,
Spain, Ireland, the UK, Italy and Belgium
Oral reports of the pioneers' travels have provided other Oas peasants with the spatial markers
needed for their own migration. The information contained therein focuses on two distinct
stages in the migratory process:
a/border crossing
b/arrival in Paris and integration into an existing group

With the negligible exception of migration to Israel, the main axis of
movement is from east to west, which requires some rudimentary geographic and astronomic
knowledge about sunrise and sunset (as a rule the Oas peasants do have this knowledge and
sometimes it is reinforced by what they learned in school or in the military); in addition, they
must be able to identify the cardinal point of West on the spatial inscriptions of the West,
profusely featured in the media. Throughout our research there has been a clear difference in
information about actors who arrive at their destination legally and those who do it illegally, on
foot or by using various forms of clandestine transportation. For the former, the itinerary is
almost normal: they follow domestic routes, keep a clear focus on destination, as a result of
which they contact travel agencies,
intermediaries and explore the legal ways to obtain a visa. Their markers are humans who
function as knots in the migration network. The majority, however, arrive in the West in a
clandestine way. In most cases it seems that the itinerary and the moment of departure have
been decided at the last minute. If the migrants manage to get organized, they leave in groups
of 5 to 40 people. The largest group to cross the river Oder into Germany and move on to
France comprised 90 migrants. They had travelled from Certeze to Paris for three days. Small
groups are the norm in the initial phase of the migrational process, when the actors play the role
of explorers of a foreign territory. The subsequent groups
include more people and utilize the experience of the pioneers by
following with very few exceptions already known itineraries. But the physical experience of the
trip and the adjustments it requires from the migrant vary from one individual case to another,
even if the ruses and subterfuges of clandestine travel are known by all of them. Every migrant
has already crossed one or several borders, whose markers (no mans land, uninhabited areas,
the number of checkpoints and guards, etc.) are also markers of limits. Thus, the trip does not
consist in mere border crossing, but, being an itinerary, it emerges as a process of permanently
needing markers. In the beginning, orientation depends on such markers of socio-economic
mobility as roads and mile stones, cars and license plates,
railway stations and their layouts , planes and flight routes,
high-voltage utility poles, If necessary, the migrants also guide
themselves by natural markers like rivers, paths, light signals, noises.
They rarely use road maps and atlases, nor do they attempt to establish contact with human
markers because very few migrants are able to communicate in the language of the countries
they cross. As a result, it frequently happens that traces of previous migrants or encounters
with other refugees result in a shift in the direction of the trip. The clandestine trip takes
anywhere from one week to 2-3 months. Customarily, the migrants return by plane, in what in
most cases it is their first air travel.
The migration of Romanian peasents: the case of Oas area

The political changes in the Eastern European countries in 1989 and after, evoke a dominante

theme: that of mobility because of numerous inititives and networks created in the East as well

as in the West, in Europe , but also, of course, around, in the world.

The migration of Romanian people take place in this spectrum of mobility.

Some characteristics of the Romanian migration are similar to the Polish, Hungarian, Ex-

Yugoslavian, Gypsys but also different because it is conditioned by different migration policy,

economical level and by the ethnic structure of population.

In the period '90-'97, after the results of the National Statistics Commision, 326.750 Romaniens

flow abroad. 141.071 Germans, 130.137 Romaniens, 46.923 Hungarens and 8.628 other

nations. Most of them, 131.000 only to Germany.

These are the official statistics. But if we discuss the Romanien Migration we must not forget the

more and more importent illegal migration and which is not recorded in the centralized statistics.
My research focused especially this part of the Romanien phenomenon of mobility: the illegal

migration and the social actors of this movement, who, generelly move from one country to

another consuming and exhausting the integration/expulsion in each country.

For 4 years I studie the incredibal migration of a peasents group from North Romania, Oas

country.

80% from the activ population , men and women, provide from 11 villages "setteled", if you

permit me to say , setteled in the mobility.

Having an ancient grammer of mobility (in the Oas area the peasants moved frecuently every

season in order to find forest jobs) and being tied to the effects of proximity-distance (the Oas

area being locted on the North-West border of Romania, it is geographically favorable to

multiple interactions due to border crossing), the peasents have started exploring the labour

market: first in Yugoslavia and then , in chronological order of penetration in Austria, Germany,

Italy, France, Belgium,Sweden, Norway, England, Grece and even Canary Island going through

Spain. Slowly a migratory circuit that extends as far as in Israel was created under a touristic

pretext . Another more important one appeared in US using private invitation or making use of

the network of the diffrent religious sect.

The aim of this paper is to present you this case of this migratory peasants, this movement

which is half officialy, half illigally, neither pendular, and neither definitive, produceing new social

actors between one, two ore more cultures, between one , tow, ore more contries, between one

two, ore more social situation. They settel in the permenent motion (stay in move), which they

do not perceive it as a migration but as a permanent travel.
They accumulate social and economic capital which make them for the moment , be a group

which is not clearly definet.

Starting to think about the reality of this group , we could say that my research shows the way a

diaspora does not occur..

With a project of returning and not to stay definitively in an other country, with the appearance of

a refugees movement, with the look like new Romanien diaspora but with only a local loyality.

..........................

The villages from Oas , which have a tradition in the seasonal migration, are special in the

Romanian rural environment. A social promotion made up of both peasants and seasonal

workers, has appeared in these villages, promation that shows absolute special dynamism and

capacity of adaptation in the actual transitinal period. The effects of the seasonal labour (

especially in the '80) transpares not only in a material prosperity revealled by new buildings,

namely villas , through a positive demographique situation whith a high degree of generation-

renewing or in a antreprenorial attitude, paradoxically practised during the communist system.

But especially , this migrations assured a logic collective action and a way of cultural survival.

The confrontation with foreign countries, as noticed, will bring several modification in the social

and economic organization of the villages and especially in peasants behaviours.
At the same time taking into consideration other migration experiences, other social or cultural

groups from Romania or Estern Europe, and reporting it to Oas peasants migrations, we can

remark that, except some practices inspired by other migrants; like Gypsies, Poles, Ex-

Jugoslawians, the North-Romanian migrants stand out because of a temporary and collective

logic in their migratory actions, their important and rising number ( only in France: 6 persons in

1992 and more then 6000 persons during the next five years), their, legal and illegal behavior

towards their stay, and, how I have remarked in the begining of this paper, in their project of

mobility that includes a returning project.

The population from Oas area, that has already been practising since 6 years migration abroad,

come from 11 villages: Certeze, Moiseni, Hute, Bixad, Camizana, Boinesti, Calinesti, Turt, Tur,

Vama, Lesintca, and Negresti.

Most of the migrant arrived in France. About 60% come from Certeze. So that my field work

focused specialy the peasants from Certeze and their migratory mouvement first in France, but

also in Austria and in Italy.

Migrations to France begun in 1992, by a group of seven persons, consisting only men. These,

havins returned in their village, encouraged the leavings of the others. In 1993, some men

groups started to westwards, we can say , with a gast worker project. This groups were not so

important as number of participants in the migration , but more as social actors because they

had a rol of probing, exploring, experiencing the western system. This year they have just

discovered the newspaper for homeless men, that is known in France under such names :
"Macadam", "la Rue", "Le Réverbère", "Faim du Siecle", " &0 Balles", "Le Lampadair" that

recently become "L'Itnerant". Exept, "La Rue", this newspapers are not supported financialy; all

of them are seld for 2-3-4 francs to the homeless people and who, at their turn sel them after for

10 francs.

This kind of newspaper was invented in the USA, imported to Europe, first in England and then

in Belgium, afterwards in France and it is bought by a charitable public. Its seling is a form of

camouflage for the usual begging.

The migration wave took astonishing proportions and diversitied in the period 1994-1997. In the

first part of the period: autumn 1993 til spring 1994 the migration was practised, with three

exceptions, only by men, then, in september 1994 joint groups between 20-40 persons, the third

part being women reached Paris. In June 1995, about 840 peopels from Certeze lived in

France: 8% being women between 15 and 42 years old and the rest being men between 17-60

years old. In March 1995, the situation was the following: from a population of 3335 inhabitants

of Certeze , 2845 were registered, 658 from these migrated or lived temporary in Paris. We

found the following situation: 97% men , 3% women; the average age is 25 years; the youngest :

é months, was born in Paris; the oldest: 62 yers old; majority: 86% one person from a family,

10% two persons from a family, 2% three persons from a family, 1,4% four persons from a

family. To sum up, every family seems to take part at least with a member;

In all the inquired cases, the returns allways take place: either because of an expultion or just

because the migrant fulfilled the purpose of his movement: the necessary sume for building a

house, or simply to fulfill his agricultural dutys. As soon as the peasants finished their

economies, they plan another projet of migration. They can return to France, even if they had

signed the expultion or they may go to other western, atlantic oriental countries, as recent

migrations to Italy, Israel, Canada.

The migration of Oas'peasants belong to the mouvement that doesn't implay a benevolent

breaking off whith the original place.
Their project of mobility is a project of returning and not of breaking off with their native village,

or settling abroad. Theier action oscillates between different cultural areas, yet, without leading

to an uprooting from their village.

This project of returning bring about a certain mobility behaviours, a certain concience an a

certain social dynamism in the village they come from. The informators biographies show

identical behaviour and attitudes what concerns their mouvement. The pushfactors are the

securing money first for building or finishing the build houses, and then for baying agricultural

land, or forester and other material goods: cars, furniture etc. More and more frequently, one

can see their interest to invest in private companies or to profit from the bank that proposes an

important interest. Besides this atitude, meaning as they say in their language: "to make fortune

for business" or "each of them should have his house" or "we must marry our children", there

are secondary determinations that should't be neglected at all: inflation, unemployment, the

differences between the salaries in Romania and in the developped countries, the wish of living

an western life, the results of a brutal reforms or their postponing, that agranted the situation

and desillusioned the Romaniens.

Most of the women remain home with their children and with the old persons, generally occupied

with the breeding of the animals or with few agricultural worksthat can be practed in that area,

due to a poor quality of land. Yet, an important number part of them practising border -traffic in

Poland, Hungary, Turky, on short distances and temporary stay.

The first three women and their children arrived in France at the begining of 1994 in order to

increase the familiar income. Their economical success came also from selling newspapers ;

much more than their husbands'income, would stimulate the leaving of the others women and

also of many young people.

For instance, we can meet in Defense: the father, the mother, the parents in law, and the

neighbours.
To sum up, the project of mobility is one of returning and it's the results of a familiar decision.

Building a mobility project the family has in view its survival but more its social position in the

village.

La migration des paysans d'Oas en France

(usage social d'un handicap économique ou l'usage économique d'un handicap social?)

Les déplacements des paysans d'Oas vers la France ont commencé en 1992 par un petit
groupe de 7 personnes, tous des hommes.

(..."En 1992 je suis parti en France; j'était le premier a partir de mon
village. C'était une agence de Bucarest " Dom Tour" qui s'occupait de notre départe, un groupe
de sept personnes. Ca nous a coûté 105000 lei qui représenté à l'époque environ 600 DM.
Nous sommes parti par le train, légalement, vers la France. Là-bas je trouvé du travail au noir
aux défrichements chez un portugaise...." G.B. un jeune homme ,30 ans de Certeze)

Ceux-ci, en retournant dans leur village, encouragent d'autres départs, et en
conséquence, en 1993, partent vers l'ouest et vers la France des groupes importants non en
nombre mais en tant qu'acteurs, car ils ont un rôle tâtonnant, d'ouverture, d'exploitation et
d'expérimentation.

Les premiers venus ont cherché surtout du travail dans les secteurs forestiers ou
agricoles mais aussi sur les chantiers, distributeurs de matériaux publicitaires, travaux de
ménage, etc. Ils sont très fiers de leur force de travail, vraiment légendaire en Roumanie, et ils
ont essayé de la montrer aussi en France. Mais en France, "même sur le marché noir c'est
difficile de trouver un travail" (id. G.B.) .

Au début à titre provisoire et contraints de se débrouiller pendante les périodes de
"chômage", ils découvrent tout le profit qu'il peuvent tirer en vendant les journaux de rue. Ceux-
ci furent lancés en France au cours de l'année 1993. Vendu à la criée par les SDF, Macadam
fait son apparition dans les rues parisiennes le 11 mai 1993 (et dés le lendemain sur le pavé de
Bruxelles). Il a été le premier journal de la presse dite de "réinsertion" en France. Dans la
même année d'autres titres viennent s'ajouter au Macadam: La Rue, Le Réverbère et Faim de
Siècle. Des individus comptés comme SDF se sont mis à exercer une activité qui, de fait n'a
rien de nouveau: le colportage de presse. L'originalité, s'il en existe une, consiste dans l'objet
et dans l'acte lui-même de la vente: ce qui s'achète lors de l'échange c'est le produit de type
Macadam, ou bien le statut SDF, sans-emploi.

Si Macadam journal est chez les lecteurs français incontestablement le pionnier de
la presse SDF, le concept du journal, lui, est directement inspiré par d'autre titres existants déjà
dans l'espace anglophone. D'abord le journal new yorkais Streed News qui a inspiré à son tour
de rôle sa variante londonaise: The Big Issue. Le journal américain fait par les homeless et
distribué par eux, se vendait deux ans après son premier numéro en 1989 à plus de 100.000
exemplaires tous les mois. Vendu 1 dollar, deux tiers des produits de cette vente revenait aux
homless vendeurs. The Big Issue , éparpillé dans tout le Royaume-Uni, a été lancé comme
mensuel en septembre 1991, est devenu hebdomadaire (tiré à plus de 100.000 exemplaires
par semaine). Proposé comme un forum des initiatives contre l'exclusion, le journal est devenu
ainsi un véritable produit commercial. Le journal s'est désormais imposé en tant que tel et
parvient à dégager des bénéfices. Ces derniers devraient être réinvestis dans des actions à
caractère social en liaison avec les sans-abri.

La série des journaux de rue qui ont inondé la France entre 1993-1998 est assez
longue: le Macadam, le Réverbère, le Lampadaire, l'Itinérant la Rue, Faim de Siècle ,
Génération Sida, Spectacle d'Ile de France , Sans-Abri, Le Galérien, 10 Balles, Eur Pass, Le
Belvédère . Également, dans la même logique "de lutte contre l'exclusion", dans d'autres pays
de l'Europe, les Sans-abri ont pris place dans l'espace publique: avec, par exemple Terre di
mezzo , L'Isciu, en Italie, Strassenfeger , Hinz und Kunzt, Bankexpress , Adler-Espressen
Allemagne, La Farola en Espagne, Nemo en Belgique, etc. La particularité du modèle français
c'est la multiplication des titres au niveau national mais aussi local. Au delà de quelques
différences ( le format, l'organisation rédactionnelle, la politique éditoriale ) ces journaux
forment bien un ensemble dans la mesure où ils se présentent comme une réponse aux
phénomènes d'exclusions en proposant une forme de revenu aux personnes sans domicile: le
gain d'argent étant directement lié à la vente des journaux. Les points communs resident dans
la manière d'administrer ce circuit, d'encadrer les vendeurs (pièce d'identité, contrat de
vendeur-colporteur, badge aux couleurs du journal) , de gérer la distribution des journaux ( la
vente en gros ou individuelle du journal; les aires individuelles de distribution qui sont dans
l'espace publique, sauf les gares, le réseau métropolitain...; l'horaire à la disposition du
vendeur), le statut social des vendeurs (personnes en difficulté, SDF, migrants, etc.)

Depuis la fin de 1993, ce sont "le Macadam", “Le Réverbère” , et ensuite “Le
Lampadaire” devenu en 1996 "L'Itinérant" qui ont donné aux paysans d'Oas "la raison d'être"
migrant en France.
Les paysans d'Oas arrivent à Paris avec un projet de mobilité de travail saisonnier.
Comment peuvent-ils faire une saison en France? Depuis mai 1998 3 la recette consistait à
utiliser le temps d'examen d'une demande d'asile qui peut atteindre plusieurs mois ( entre 3-9
mois). Contraints par leur statut juridique temporaire, dû aux procédures de demande d'asile
politique qui ne leur donnent pas le droit au travail en France, mais qui les laissent intégrer
différentes structures d'aide sociale, les paysans ont profité de cette opportunité mi-légale, mi-
illégale créée par les journaux de rue et se sont installés dans cette structure "d'aide pour les
sans abri", en s'y envestissant comme pour un vrais travail. L'originalité et l'importance
économique de ce "marché de crise" aux objectifs caritatifs peut se mesurer ensuite,
directement dans la réussite d'une saison en France.

2. le satut de vendeurs roumains

Comme notait dans son article C. Barats (in Mots, "La presse francaise des sans-
domicile-fixe", nr. 46/mars 96, p.57), la multiplication des titres et l'acuité de la concurrence ont
engendré des rapports de rivalité qui peuvent parait choquants pour une presse, dont l'objectif
affiché est la lutte contre l'exclusion. Souvent les attaques se sont focalisés sur les vendeurs
roumains.La nature concurrentielle de ce type de presse, telle que s'imposée dans le cas de la
France, témoigne de l'importance des enjeux économiques de ce nouveau marché. Or, les
migrants roumains font un détachement des vendeurs très disciplinés, très impliqués dans la
vente, donc un réseau de diffusion extrêmement efficace. Le Réverbère parle de "mafia
roumaine", il proclame défendre "l'exclusion des Français dans l'Europe afin de ne pas devenir
Roumains, Marocains, ou encore Chinois, mais hédoniste!" Après avoir perdu une battaile avec
les vendeurs roumains on leur dedicant dans son journal une page d'attraction écrite en
roumain (voir l'annexe) il semble être à l'origine de la publication d'un autre journal de rue le
Belvèdére , qui "défend les intêrets des Roumains exilés en France et non les escrocs
roumains ou français qui les exploitent" (voir annexes) Ce journal "se propose d'aider les
roumains de façon suivante: une société canadienne fabrique spécialement pour eux le journal
Le Belvédère afin de leur permettre d'acquérir les fonds nécessaires à leur émigration vers ce
pays à l'avenir fabuleux qu'est le Canada."(Le Belvédère n°1, p.3) Ce numero c'est soldé avec
un echeque. Nie le migrants roumains nie les sans abri francais ne se sont pas aventuré vendre
une tel journal. Du coté La Rue, l'irritation contre les roumains vendeurs est exprimée sous le
fard d'un rapport. A la demande du club des partenaires du journal La Rue, L. Duroy note dans
un enquête (1995) sur la presse de rue, que c'est "la guerre entre Réverbère et L'Itinérant qui a
favorisé l'emergence de reseaux de vendeurs illégaux (Roumains, Yougoslaves, Polonais etc.)

3 "depuis quand la demande d'asile est devennue moins attractive en reduisant le temps d'examen de la demande par
une procédure plus rapide sans délivrance de titre de séjour provisaoire et d'autre part d'exclure les nouveaux
demandeurs d'avantages sociaux comme l'allocation d'insertion et le pécule journalier." R. Benattig, O.Brachet, Les
dynamique smigratoires roumaines, CRESI/CRARDDA, 1998, p.65
et il donne l'exemple d'un vendeur du Réverbère implanté au Ponte de Sévres, "qui ne parle
que quelques mots de français, qui vive dans des caravanes à proximité de l'Université de
Nanterre et qui a un visa de tourisme largement expirés". Le vendeur est facilment identifiable
à l'image d'un rome d'origine roumaine. "Le Réverbère, comme Le Lampadaire, étant prêts à
faire feu de tout bois pour vendre (sans compte que si tu refuses un roumain il va aller vendre
Le Lampadaire), les deux titres (mais cela est aussi vrai pour Macadam) sont donc desormais
vendus pour une bonne part, par des étrangers en situation irrégulière en France (visas
expirés, clandestins etc.) Dès que la crise du marché des journaux de rue commence se sentir
(printemps 1997), Macadam accuse a son tour dans deux numero nr53/1997 et nr.55/98 la
cladestinité des vendeurs roumains: les tsigans de Roumanie qui malgrés la reputation raciste
du Réverbère continuent à le vendre sous son nouveau titre de fabrication espagnole Euro
Pass et les gens du Maramures (faut, il s'agit d'Oas et non pas de Maramures n.n.)
particulièrment attaché à l'Itinérant.

Mais est-ce que les vendeurs roumains sont vraiment des clandestins? C'est
difficille d'imaginer que un tel "travail" peuvent être exersé par une personne en situation
irregulière; son bute est justement sa visibilité, parce que c'est aussi l'image des marginaux qu'il
faut vendre avec le journal de rue. A la fin d'une enquête aupres de L'Itinérant, nous avons pu
constater que tous les vendeurs roumains ont le statuts de demadeurs d'asile politique et qu'au
moment de la demande d'un badge au couleurs du journal ils sont en parfaite légalité sur le
territoire français. Leur clandestinité, s'il y en a une, il faut la chercher dans le statut même de
vendeur SDF. Placé dans une contexte d'urgence cette presse a aménagé a posteori et d'une
manière arbitraire un statut de vendeur-colporteur de presse pour ses distributeurs. La
préfecture peut ainsi délivrer une carte de colporteur et selon l'article 22 de la loi du 3 janvier
1991 "les personnes dénommées vendeurs-colporteurs de presse/.../ sont des travailleurs
indépendants lorsqu'elles exercent leur activité en leur nom et pour le compte d'un éditeur, d'un
dépositaire ou d'un diffuseur". Ce statut implique que les vendeurs déclarent volontairement
leurs ventes, qu'ils payent les cotisations et qu'ils bénéficent d'une couverture sociale ; or, le
statut de demandeurs d'asile politique ne leur donne pas le droit du travail en France, et l'affaire
tourne dans un cercle vicieux.

3. Usage social d'un handicap économique ou l'usage économique
d'un handicap social?

Mais est ce que la vente des journaux de la rue peut être qualifiée en termes de
travail? C'était une question que nous avons posé dans toute les entretiens aux migrants d'Oas:
Les réponses sont ambigues: oui et non; "oui c'est un commerce, j'achète le journal à 2 F et je
le vende pour 10F" ou "non, c'est de la mendicité, ils me donnent mes dix francs et refuse de
prendre le journal". "ce n'est pas un travail, c'est une solution" ( C.S., 20 ans de Certeze) La
dignité de l'homme et la crédibilité du vendeur sont ici en concurrence étrange. La reconquête
de sa dignité passe, dans un premier temps, par une affirmation de sa condition désocialisée.
L'identité sociale réelle du vendeur n'apparaît pas lors de l'interaction occasionnée par la vente.
"(...) mon vendeur d'Itinérant, qu'il a les yeux rougis par le froid et les mains et pieds glacés
tenterait de vendre son journal(...)" écrivait Mme L. S., 93320 Pavillons s/Bois à la rédaction du
l'Itinérant (voir les annexes) C'est bien un Sans Abri que la gentille dame est en train de décrire
ici. Rien de son identité, de son histoire réelle ne transparaît pendant l'échange.

Un réponse à notre question pourrait venir de la part de l'acheteur. Si on sait qui
sont les éditeurs et qui sont les vendeurs, on se demande qui sont les acteurs qui bouclent le
circuit économique de journaux de rue? Les enquêtes auprès des vendeurs et l'observation du
terrain montre qu'il s'agit d'une clientèle âgée, plutôt féminisée, desocialisée, discriminée elle
même aussi: des personnes à la retrait, des immigrants, des jeunes en difficulté- qui s'intéresse
au journaux de la rue. Les questionnements sur les acheteurs nous ont conduit a une
recherche sur l'archive des lettre envoyé à la rédaction de l'Itinérant;. Au dehors d'un nombre
important de demandes de différents annonces, de textes d'auteurs qui demandaient leurs
publication dans les pages du journal, nous avons trouvé des personnes intéressées par le
contenu du journal. Dans les lettres envoyées à la rédaction de l'Itinérant, on voit que les
acheteurs viennent aussi à la rencontre avec "leur vendeur" , qui au porte des supermarché
semble bien entré dans leur quotidien. Au dehors de l'aspect pur économique, la vente de
journaux SDF prend à cette effet une dimension sociale, sorte de tissage pratique et affectif
entre migrants roumains et français. L'ambiguïté de la vente de journaux de rue réside dans
l'interprétation de l'échange proposé: il s'agit d'un usage social d'un handicap économique ou
bien, de l'usage économique d'un handicap social.

La logique de migrants roumains vendeurs de journaux SDF est avant tout de se
procurer rapidement des ressources financières et de rentre avec, chez eux dans leur village.
R. Benattig et O.Brachet ont bien remarqué dans leur Rapport sur les dynamique migratoires
roumaines (p.42) que la vente de journaux de rue se situe sur une échelle d'actes de collecte
d'argent (lavage de par-brise, revente de tickets de métro, musique de rue, mendicité, et autres
actions plus ou moins licites) dont l'objectif commun est non seulement de subvenir à ses
besoins immédiats mais surtout de se doter des moyens d'améliorer ses conditions de vie ou
de financer les besoins de la famille ou d'autres activités une fois de retour au pays.

Les Tziganes roumains, Les Oseni, ne sont pas les seuls groupe qui fonctionnent
dans une telle logique; à Berlin pendante les vacances des étudiants polonais ou skiners
provenants de Russie lavent le par-brise des voitures dans différents carrefours. (cf. S.
Butscher, Euroconference Sintra, Juin 1998) La France, tout a fait surprenante, a un effet
d'attraction-répulsion particulier pour une frange de population migrante qui valorisent les actes
de collecte d'argent. A la difficulté d'accès au marché du travail s'ajoute toute une série de
représentations sur l'Europe occidental qui justifient est finalement expliquent la mise en route
de différentes populations pour simple acte de collecte d'argent. Largement médiatisés, les
aides humanitaires généreusement envoyés en Roumanie après la chute du régime
communiste, jouent un rôle non-négligeable dans l'imaginaire de migration et dans la
représentation de l'homme occidental. D'autres formes d'assistance, telles que la coopération,
les investissement à l'étranger, le concept de co-dévéloppement, sont moins représentatives
dans l'imaginaire de l'ailleurs. Par contre, le modèle de l'acteur mobile et prospère qui a réussi
sa collecte et qui rentre au village, annule les questions autour de la moralité e ces pratiques et
génére d'autres projets de départ.

Achetant le journal 2 à 4F et en le vendant 10F, les paysans d'Oas ont réussi à fonder un
réseau de diffusion très efficace. Les aires de leur déplacements à l'intérieur de la France
correspondent à peu près à la diffusion de l'Itinérant. Le circuit migratoire passe
inévitablement par une domiciliation postale délivrée par différents organismes habilités à le
faire. Si en 1993-1994 c'était la Croix Rouge qui fournissait des adresses aux migrants
roumain, les années suivantes, ces derniers ont plutôt exploité les services de domiciliation de
la France Terre D'Asile (1996-1998) et de la Mission Catholique Roumaines à Paris (1995-
1997). C'est à la MCR que nous avons squatté un sac- poubelle , plein d'amendes (suite aux
voyages sans titre de transport), une précieuse archive concernant la mobilité des Oseni à
l'intérieur de la France. Cette documentation inédite montre bien une exceptionnelle mobilité
qui prend la forme d'un mouvement pendulaire un peu partout en France, dont le point fixe est
la région parisienne. Sous différentes formes de regroupement communautaire (village, rue,
famille) les paysans d'Oas habitent des maisons abandonnées dans la banlieue parisienne: à
Nanterre, Maisons Laffite, Saint Denis, Aulnay-S/Bois, La Courneuve, Montreuil, Fontenay aux-
Roses, Versailles etc. Les maisons abandonnées servent simplement de dortoirs. Les
paysans les quittent tôt le matin et y reviennent le soir, après la fermeture des supermarchés
devant lesquels ils vendent leur journaux. Nous avons pu constater un mouvement pendulaire
vers Paris, lié particulièrement au réseau métropolitain et un autre, en sens contraire et radial,
calqué surtout sur le réseau des chemins de fer. Il y a des trajets courts (20 - 40 Km)
correspondant aux déplacements à l'intérieur de la ceinture formée par les zones 5 -8; ces
sont les voies les plus fréquentées. Mais les amendes indiquent aussi des trajets longs (plus
de 100 km, exemple: Nanterre- Reims, Versailles-Orleans , Paris- Rouen et assez rare,
d'autres trajets plus longs: Paris -Marseille, Paris- Toulouse, Paris -Bruxelles etc.)

Les caractéristiques des migrants d'Oas

Pendant la première période, automne 1993-1994, on assiste à une migration
d’hommes; mais en septembre 1994 arrive à Paris un groupe de 40 personnes dont 12
femmes. En avril 1995, ils sont environ 840 dont 8% de femmes, 9% des jeunes entre 12 et 16
ans et le reste des hommes entre 17 et 60 ans. Cette statistique est le résultat d'une enquête
empirique dans les maisons abandonnées habitées par les paysans d'Oas au débute de '95.

En décembre 1997 nous avons pu exploiter l'archive du journal l'Itinérant,. Les
documents trouvés couvrent une période de 3 ans: entre fin 1994 et fin 1997. Pour accéder au
statut de vendeur, les candidats sont obligés présenter une pièce d'identité. Dès 1995 ils
signent un contrat vendeur-colporteur et reçoivent un badge. La récépissé constatant le dépôt
d'une demande de statut de réfugié légitime le migrant roumain.

Sur un échantillon de 1000 personnes vendeurs roumains du journal l'Itinérant,
nous avons trouvé:

• 777 personnes provenant d'Oas et 53 personnes de la proximité du Pays
d'Oas, de la région voisine Maramures. Les autres 170 proviennent du Banat, de la zone
Craiova, Bistrita, et de la Moldavie.

• 32% (316 personnes) sont des femmes, dont 87% mariées, 1.2% divorcées,
2.4 veuves et 8.7 célibataires.

• 68% (684 personnes) sont des hommes, dont 57% mariés, 42% célibataires et
0.1% divorcé.

• La moyenne d'âge se situe à 33 ans pour les femmes comme pour les
hommes.

• On constate une intensification des entres en France pendant les mois de
septembre, octobre, novembre.

• Pour une large majorité des enquêtés il s'agissait de leur deuxième séjour en
France;

Dés 1994 les déplacements vers la France s'amplifient et la saison, à l'étranger,
change ses caractéristiques. Coincée par la durée des procédures d'asile, elle s'allonge de 3 à
9 mois. Le calendrier change également, en effet, les mois d'hiver deviennent plus intéressants
car c'est durant cette période que s'effectue la meilleure vente des journaux de rue.

Les itinéraires
Selon les informations données par les personnes enquêtées, les migrants ont rejoint la

France en suivant quatre parcours depuis la Roumanie:

1. Ukraine-Pologne-Allemagne-France (le plus fréquenté)

2. Hongrie- Tchéquie-Allemagne -France

3. Hongrie-Autriche-Allemagne-France

4. Hongrie-Autriche-Italie-France

5. Hongrie- Slovénie- Italie-France ( rarement)

6. Bulgarie- Grèce -Italie- France (rarement)

La France à son tour est un pays -tremplin pour le Canada, les E.U., l'Espagne, l'Irlande,

l'Angleterre, l'Italie et la Belgique.

Ces sont les récits de voyage qui ont fourni le matériel sur l'ensemble complexe
des repères spatiaux utilisés par les ruraux pendant leur migration. Les informations se
groupent autour de deux moments distincts de déplacement:

a) le passage des frontières;

b) l'arrivée à Paris et l'intégration dans le groupe déjà existant

Hormis une seule exception, le déplacement vers Israël (négligeable) le principal
axe de migration reste de l'Est vers l'Ouest. Cette orientation dans l'espace, implique les
connaissances paysannes coutumières d'orientation (lever et coucher du soleil), réformulées ou
non par une culture géographique scolaire ou militaire, mais aussi l'identification du sens
cardinal ouest aux inscriptions spatiales de la civilisation occidentale, largement médiatisées.

Tout au long de notre recherche, une distinction entre les acteurs qui entrent
légalement dans l'espace d'accueil et les clandestins (á pied ou par différentes innovations de
transports clandestines) est mise en évidence au niveau des informations. Pour les premiers, le
parcours est presque normal: ils prennent les routes domestiques, ils ne s'intéressent qu'aux
moyens d'arriver, c'est-à-dire aux agences de voyage, intermédiaires et moyens d'obtenir un
visa. Leurs repères sont humains et fonction des noeuds du réseau migratoire. La majorité,
toutefois, arrive en Occident clandestinement. L'impression dominant qui se degage est que la
trajectoire et la décision de départ sont souvent improvisées à la dernière minute. S'ils arrivent
s'organiser, ils partent en groupes de 5 à 40 personnes. Le groupe le plus nombreux qui est
passé par l'Oder et qui est arrivé ensuite en France comptait 92 personnes. De Certeze à Paris
le voyage a duré 3 jours.

Les petits groupes correspondent au début de la migration, quand les acteurs ont
un rôle d'exploration du territoire étranger. Les derniers groupes, plus nombreux, se servant de
l'expérience des premiers, reproduisent, à quelques exceptions près, il est vrai, les tracés déjà
découverts. Mais l'expérience physique du parcours, le sens de la direction sont des solutions
souvent individuelles, même si les subterfuges de passage clandestin sont connus. Chacun a
traversé une ou plusieurs frontières. Les marques frontalières: (la bande de terre labourée, un
terrain vide de population civile, la densité des garde-frontières, la densité des points de
douane, etc.) sont les repères des limites. Mais le passage ne signifie pas seulement le
franchissement des frontières, il est tout un itinéraire et par conséquen un besoin permanent
de repères.

L'orientation se fait, dans un premier temps par les repères mobiles de la
circulation: les routes et les marquages du kilométrage, les voitures et leur numéro
d'immatriculation, les gares et leurs plans explicatifs, les routes aériennes des avions, les piliers
de haute tension. Au besoin, les repères naturels: une rivière, un sentier, des signaux lumineux,
des bruits. Les instruments d'orientation sont rarement utilisé,la carte routiere, par exemple; de
même les repères humains, car peu nombreux sont les migrants qui peuvent s'adresser dans
la langue du pays traversé ou d'arrivée. Anciennes traces et autres transfuges peuvent aussi
faire changer la direction du voyage. Le parcours clandestin dure entre une semaine et 2 à 3
mois. Le retour se fait par avion; pour la majorité c'est la première fois qu'ils empruntent une
voie aérienne.

2. The Settling , the integration, the working place

About 10% from the migrants coming from Certeze and periodically settling down in Paris

integrated the black labour market. The great majority of them, compelled by the law state --

which doesn't give the right to settle and to work in the migrant-area--, and proffiting after the

social assistence given to the excluded persons, only out of the logic of it, work in difussing and

selling newspapers in Paris, and on an area of 400 Km around.
At the beginning "Le réverbère", then the "le Lampadaire" which become "l'Itinerant", they

succeded to build the most efficient network of diffusing these newspapers, in about one year.

The invention of this way of production with doubtful law legitimacy and , created "the motor"

that propelled the migrant action and the material prosperity of Certezes people for the last four

yaers.

The extraordinary economic result of this newspaper-selling is based on the time organization

behaviour of the Oas peasants - they work the whole day, without interupting-, on their ability to

"shoot" the most interesting places, on their adaptation to a situation similar to beggardom, and

to the conditions of a primitive life.

3. The transfer of economie

The migration network is made up on familiar and neigboury bases, and it's directly srtructured

by the network of diffusing the "L'Itinerant" newsparer.

The first comers receive and accustom the newcomers to the new society. They perpetuate the

same mechanisms.

The network stimulates the leavings from the village, but also the transfer of ecomies, saved up

with severity along the period spent abroad, and sent home almost regularly.

In this way, there is a permanent dynamics relation between those who remain home and those

who migrate. In most of the cases, the money comes from the sale of newspepers and are

collectively and illigal transferred into the village. The sums of money sent are confidential. From

the few informations got from different sources that coincid, the result is that about 150.000 _
200.000 DM, generally are periodically transfered ( each one month, or one month and half) to

the community remained in the village, brought in one or more transports, by one or more

persons that have finished their "season" and turn back.

Whatever the migration area is, the currency is the German mark. It remains the most

influential foreign coin in the Oas . The seasanal average income of the migrants is aboat

10.000 DM. The installement of transfer depends on the season: as the economie come from

the sale of the newspapers for homless people, the winter and raining seasan are more efficient

than summer.
Dana Diminescu,
sociologue,
cercheur rattachée à
EHESS -CEMS
Centre d'Etudes des Mouvements Sociaux
54, Bd Raspail, 75006 Paris

Project: The migration to France of roumanian Peasants from the Oas Region:
Social Usage of an Economic Handicap or Economic usage of a Social Handicap?

This paper will be based on a qualitative data set (approximately 50 lifecourse interviews) analysing
rural Romanian population of Oas region in Northwestern Romania trans-migrating between Western
Europe, specialy France and their area of origin.

80% from the activ population of the Oas area, men and women, provide from eleven villages,
"setteled" in the mobility.
Having an ancient grammer of mobility (in the Oas area the peasants moved frecuently every season
in order to find forest jobs) and being tied to the effects of proximity-distance (the Oas area being
locted on the North-West border of Romania, it is géographically favorable to multiple interactions due
to border crossing), after 1989, the peasents have started to exploring the labour market: first in
Yugoslavia and then, in chnological order of penetration in Austria, Germany , Italy, France, Belgium,
Sweden, Norway, England, Irland, Grece and even Canary Island going through Spain. Slowly, a
migratory circuit that extends as far as in Israel was created under a touristic pretext. Another more
important one appeared in US and Canada using illegal networks or private invitation or making use of
the network of the different religious sect.

Since the end of 1993 streer press like Macadam (today 20 Romanien vendors), Le Réverbère
(since september 1992 roughly 200 Romanian vendors) along with Le Lampadaire, which in
1996 became L'Itinerant (since december 1997, 2000 Romanian vendors), have provided the
Oas peasants with their "raison d'etre" as migrants in France.

Noting their constant penetration of borders , their project of mobility that includes a returning project,
the continuous circulation of people, money, goods, and information, our focus becomes the manner in
which the members of this community through their migratory practices.

Among the plurality of Rumanian migrant populations, the Oas peasants stand out because of: a
periodic and collective logic in their migratory actions, their important and rising number ( 6 persons in
1992 and 2034 in 1997, only the peasants from one village Certeze), their project of mobility that
includes a returning project, the legal or illegal behaviour towards their stay and towards their borders
crossing.

This paper will compare border

The research focused the results of: four field works ( in Certeze (Rumania, the Oas area), in
Transkirchen (Austria), in Rome and Paris), of more than 50 structureds interviews and life historys of
differents actors, selected after the analysis of the statistical tendencies;
Dana Diminescu
397, rue des Pyrénées
75020 Paris

à M. Rainer Ohliger
Humboldt Universitat zu Berlin
Philosophische Facultat III, Sozialwissenschaften
tétéc. 0049 30 20931432

2 Seiten

Draga Rainer

iti scriu pe romaneste. Sa-ti fie de antrenament , dar , recunosc, si din cauza grabei mele.
Am scris fara prea mare concentrare rezumatul pentru conferinta de la Chicago.
Poti adauga sau taia din text daca consideri.
N-am trecut nici o sursa bibliografica pentru ca n-am nici o idee la cine se repereaza un
specialist american in migratie. Daca ai o idee precisa te rog aseaza-o in text.

M-am bucurat mult sa te revad. Sincer as fi vrut sa putem discuta indelung.
Sint multe intrebari la care as dori sa-ti cunosc raspunsul. Dar cum spuneam copil in meine
Schule... unsere Freundschaft soll leben bis die Hunner in Pantoffeln gehen. Éternellement!
Ma voi stradui sa ma servesc de E-mail, vom comunica poate astfel mai des.

amicalement votre

Cher Léo,
je te prie de lire mon résumé en anglais, c'est possible qu'il y a des fautes.; s'il te plaît n'hésite
pas les corriger si quelque chose ne va pas.

Peut-être tu peut ajouter quelques mots et l'envoyer à l'Association
amitiés
dana d.