Fuga din România anilor ’70 -’80. Fenomenul plecărilor ilegale din R.S. România surprins în articolele periodicului „Securitatea”
Fleeing Communist Romania. The phenomenon of illegal crossing border during the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceauşescu as it was seen by the Securitate

Summary/Abstract: This article aims to analyze a social phenomenon that took place during the entire communist period, but which increased in intensity in the 1980s and affected the whole society: the illegal emigration in it’s most dangerous form - fraudulent border crossing. Although freedom of movement was constitutionally established by the communist regime and was assumed internationally, by signing the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference, the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceauşescu dramatically restricted this fundamental human right. The complete isolation of romanians from the West was a major goal for the regime in it’s final stage. The method of crossing illegally the border was the most dangerous form of escape, the fugitives often risked their lives. This method was used by ordinary people, without privileges, who did not have the opportunity to obtain a passport. Thousands of Romanian citizens tried to flee to escape the harsh living conditions or the oppression of the political police but most of them were caught and convicted and some of them were even killed. In order to eradicate the phenomenon, a repressive mechanism was conceived and implemented by the force structures of the communist state, led by the Securitate. The methods used by the Nicolae Ceauşescu’s political police to stop the fugitives are revealed in the Securitate’s quarterly magazine

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