Author
Special Accommodation Closed Areas
Asylum detention, i.e. placement in specifically designed closed spaces, cannot be ordered against unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, except for cases where the unaccompanied child cannot prove their age and, due to serious doubts thereon, IGI-DAI requests an age assessment.[1]
Detention (“public custody”) centres
The law defines the measure of taking a person into “public custody” as a temporary restriction of the freedom of movement on the territory of Romania, ordered against foreigners in order to accomplish all the necessary steps for removal or transfer under the Dublin Regulation under escort.[2] In practice, however, it constitutes a measure of deprivation of liberty.
There are 2 detention centres, known as Centres for Accommodation of Foreigners Taken into Public Custody (Centrul de Cazare a Străinilor luaţi în Custodie Publică), located in Otopeni, near Bucharest, and Arad, near Timișoara. The centres are managed by IGI and are specially designed for the temporary accommodation of foreigners taken into public custody.[3]
Detention (“public custody”) is ordered in writing by an order, justified in law and in fact by the designated prosecutor within the Prosecutor’s Office attached to the Court of Appeal of Bucharest, upon a motivated request by IGI.[4]
In most cases, asylum seekers are not detained. The main categories of asylum seekers detained are those who have applied for asylum from detention and whose application has been assessed in the accelerated procedure.
The Public Custody Centres Regulation explicitly provides that children cannot be detained in these centres, unless they are accompanied by at least one of the parents or their legal representative, who are taken into public custody.[5]
According to the amended Aliens Act, in case the foreigner declares that they are a minor and cannot prove their age, if there are serious doubts about his minority, they will be considered an adult.[6] In this situation, IGI requests an age assessment, with their prior consent.[7] As a consequence the child will be treated as an adult and placed in detention pending the age assessment, until their age is confirmed.
In 2023, IGI-DAI reported that there were no children detailed in Arad or Otopeni.[8] The Public Custody Centre in Arad indicated that in 2023, out of the total of 993 foreigners detained, there were 37 women and 1 person with disabilities.[9] Further details were not provided.
In 2024, approximately 1,043 foreign nationals were detained in the public custody centres (Arad and Otopeni), according to the information provided by IGI-DAI and the Public Custody Centre of Arad. In 2024, regarding the Accommodation Centre for Foreigners Taken into Public Custody in Arad, the available data covers only the first 11 months of 2024. During this period, approximately 600 foreign nationals were placed in the Arad centre. Among them, 118 were from Bangladesh, 115 from Nepal, 100 from Sri Lanka, and 73 from Pakistan, while the rest came from countries such as Ethiopia, India, Egypt, Vietnam, Morocco, and Syria. As of 18 December 2024, 43 foreign nationals were accommodated in the Arad centre, representing an occupancy rate of 27%.[10] In 2024, the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) took 443 foreign nationals into public custody at the Otopeni Accommodation Centre for Foreigners Taken into Public Custody (detention centre). The majority of these individuals came from Nepal (102), Syria (50), Pakistan (44), Bangladesh (28), Sri Lanka (32), and Ethiopia (25), with others originating from countries such as Turkey, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Cameroon, Algeria, and Burkina Faso.[11]
According to the observations by the Ombudsman following a visit to the centre on 27 June 2024, at the Otopeni Detention Center: “There were no minors or families in custody (no such cases have been recorded since 2017.[12]
In 2022, CNRR reported no accompanied children, families, or other vulnerable persons detained in Arad or Otopeni. [13] However, the Director of Otopeni stated that a pregnant woman and a single mother with her infant were detained and later returned to Serbia. Arad held no vulnerable persons but detained eight single women throughout the year. IGI-DAI reported no vulnerable detainees and stated that, [14] while Romanian law does not prohibit the detention of vulnerable asylum seekers, individuals with special needs, such as victims of torture or trafficking, have not been placed in public custody. [15] One migrant with psychological issues in Otopeni was released after two days, while in Arad, no one was released for medical reasons, though 10 detainees had chronic illnesses.
In 2024, according to CNRR, no vulnerable asylum seekers, including unaccompanied or separated children, were detained.[16]
[1] Article 19^5 Asylum Act, in conjunction with Article 42(2) Asylum Act.
[2] Article 101(1) Aliens Ordinance.
[3] ibid. Article 103(3).
[4] Article 19^14(1) Asylum Act; Article 101(2) Aliens Ordinance.
[5] Article 29 Public Custody Centres Regulation.
[6] Article 131^1(1) Aliens Act, as amended by Act 247/2018 of 6 November 2018.
[7] ibid. Article 131^1(2) Aliens Act.
[8] Information provided by IGI-DAI, 18 January 2024.
[9] Information provided by the Public Custody Centre Arad, 10 January 2024.
[10] General Inspectorate for Immigration, “Achievements and Results Obtained by the Police Officers of the Accommodation Center for Foreigners Taken into Public Custody Arad in the First 11 Months of This Year,” December 18, 2024, available here.
[11] Bucharest FM, “IGI: Over 440 Foreign Nationals Taken into Public Custody at Otopeni Center in 2024,” 6 March 2025, available here.
[12] Information provided by Ombudsman visit report in Otopeni Detention Centre, 27 June 2024, available here.
[13] Information provided by CNRR, 15 February 2022.
[14] Information provided by IGI-DAI, 22 February 2023.
[15] ibid. 14 February 2018.
[16] Information provided by CNRR in February 2025.