Final thesis : New patterns of Romanians` migration to Brussels-Capital Region

Abstract

This thesis on cultural and political geography provides a list of factors that have favoured the accelerated growth of the Romanian community residing in the Brussels-Capital Region. According to official data, in 2020 Romanians represent, for the third consecutive year, the second largest community of foreigners in Brussels, after the French. The study, which is based on combined techniques of qualitative and quantitative research and which involved ten months of complete immersion of the author in the studied community, signals the emergence of a new migratory flow composed of Romanians belonging to a middle class who chose emigration as a last resort. achieving a standard of living commensurate with their professional training. The study also provides, for the first time, a map of the distribution of Romanians in the nineteen communes of the Brussels-Capital Region and a comparative analysis in relation to other ethnic groups with strong representation in the Belgian capital.