Strangers at home: attitudes and stigma towards Romanian return migrants during Covid-19 early stages

Scholars have long acknowledged the importance of understanding public attitudes towards immigrants and refugees, but less has been researched on non-migrants’ attitudes towards co-national return migrants. This article draws on readers’ comments posted in reaction to news articles addressing the unprecedented Romanian return migration at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Comments – with negative ones being particularly inflammatory – revealed that attitudes were largely shaped by migrants’ perceived skill level and social proximity. The article argues that these factors stigmatize returnees and highlight intragroup tensions exacerbated by return migration. Such tensions disproportionately affect precarious returnees, such as low-skilled migrants and historically marginalized ethnic Roma.