A/HRC/14/30/Add.2 the population which are more vulnerable to transnational organized crime, including trafficking in persons. Reference is made to those groups and emerging trends hereinafter. A. The Romanian diaspora 8. There is a dearth of statistical information on Romanians abroad. While some sources estimate an approximate number of two million, in January 2006, the Romanian Presidency estimated a diaspora community of approximately eight million individuals.1 9. Until 2001, the main countries of destination for Romanian emigrants included Germany (which received half of all emigrants), Canada, Hungary, Italy, Spain and the United States of America. Emigration flows towards the United States of America and to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and towards other Western European countries have reportedly been increasing since 2004. Currently, Romanians also appear to be working in France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Ireland, Portugal and Turkey. 10. From the data collected by the IOM in 2005, approximately 50 per cent of Romanian emigrants worked irregularly. Romanian migrant workers have reported cases of low wages, lack of minimum work protection, targeted attacks and racial profiling by police and Government agencies at entry checkpoints of some of the European countries that are not a party to the Schengen agreement. 11. Information provided by the Ministry of Labour in June 2009 suggests that the highest numbers of Romanian migrant workers are found in Italy and Spain. This information is corroborated by data available at the national statistical institutions of those countries.2 For example, information released in 2007 indicated that Romanian immigrants in Italy accounted for 15 per cent of the international migration stock with a population totalling 600,000 individuals. Furthermore, information released in 2008 indicated that Romanian immigrants constituted 14 per cent of the international migrant stock of Spain. Statistical information available in June 2009 showed that the number of Romanian immigrants with a regular permit to stay in Spain amounted to 700,618 individuals. B. The impact of migration on children 12. Outmigration in Romania has affected children, particularly children left behind by their parents who migrate abroad for labour. Various studies carried out in Romania between 2006 and 2008 have documented that children left behind encounter increased vulnerability, particularly in the areas of protection and education.3 According to a study released in 2008 by UNICEF,4 the complexity of this phenomenon arises from aspects related to the economic and social situation of Romanians, including large gaps between the different strata of society. Studies also show that this phenomenon greatly affects western Romania. 1 2 3 4 GE.10-12102 Romanian Presidency, Press release, 26 January 2006. Available from http://www.presidency.ro/?_RID=det&tb=date&id=7048&_PRID=. The Istituto Nazionale di Statistica and the Instituto Nacional de Estadística. See, for example, the studies elaborated by the Soros Foundation and UNICEF, as well as the surveys, undertaken, inter alia, by the Alternative Sociale Association. See Alternative Sociale and UNICEF, “National analysis of the phenomenon of children left home by their parents who migrate abroad for employment”, 2008. Available from http://www.unicef.org/romania/Research_report_final.pdf. 5