Paper short abstract:

As Romania becomes a destination country for south-east Asian migrants, it becomes crucial to explore the interplay between healthcare provision and mobility regimes. This research delves into frictions arising between the Romanian healthcare system and migrants’ health perspectives and practices.

Paper long abstract:

In today's increasingly interconnected world, health care and the administrative systems that underpin it, are becoming increasingly transnational (Dilger, Kane, & Langwick, 2012; Zeldes, et al., 2018). In a (post)pandemic world, the health disparities raised by this fundamental change on the global health arena outline more than before the interplay between mobility regimes and healthcare provision.

Traditionally a source country, in recent years Romania emerged as destination country for south-east Asian migrants. Originating from Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam or the Philippines, these people fill in the immense gap left by Romanian emigration to Western Europe, increasingly becoming a vital part of the “essential” workforce. As it unfolds, this incipient wave of migration brings with it crucial concerns for how new countries of emigration should prepare and adapt their healthcare systems, especially when already precarious such as the one in Romania (Stan & Erne, 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic revealed that South-East Asian migrants were among the most vulnerable and challenged social groups living in Romania during that period (Roșca, 2021). Yet too little is known about their healthcare challenges during and, more importantly, after this period. In this paper, I use an intersectional approach to address these migrants’ understanding of health, care, and healing and how their medical practices intersect with the Romanian healthcare infrastructure. I explore the experiences of South-East Asian women working in the cleaning services trying to understand their migratory experiences, uncovering the underlying health im/mobilities.