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 applicants are not detained. The main categories of asylum applicants 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 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%.[8] 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.[9]
In 2025, a total of 397 persons were placed in detention, including 2 persons accommodated in specially designated closed spaces. Of the total number detained during the year, 42 were applicants for international protection, including persons who lodged an asylum application while in detention. At the end of 2025, 29 persons remained in detention. The authorities reported that one minor was detained during the year, while no unaccompanied minors were detained. In addition, two persons with special reception needs were recorded among those detained. The average duration of detention was 35 days, while the average duration of detention for minors was 29 days. Statistical data regarding the grounds for detention of asylum applicants, the number of asylum applicants in detention at the end of the year, and the average duration of detention for asylum applicants or unaccompanied minors were not available.[10]
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.[11]
In 2024 and 2025, according to CNRR did not encounter vulnerable asylum applicants, including unaccompanied or separated children detained.[12] However, according to IGI, one minor was detained for 29 days in 2025, indicating that detention of minors, although in exceptional cases, could occur in practice.[13]
[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] 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.
[9] Bucharest FM, “IGI: Over 440 Foreign Nationals Taken into Public Custody at Otopeni Center in 2024,” 6 March 2025, available here.
[10] Information provided by IGI-DAI, 02 March 2026.
[11] Information provided by Ombudsman visit report in Otopeni Detention Centre, 27 June 2024, available here.
[12] Information provided by CNRR in February 2025.
[13] Information provided by IGI-DAI, 02 March 2026.