More than 6,000 Ukrainians receive temporary protection in the Republic of Moldova
More than 6,000 Ukrainians are granted temporary protection in the Republic of Moldova. Since March, refugees from Ukraine can benefit from temporary protection, granted by the authorities in Chisinau to ensure their better social integration. The local identity document gives them access to education, healthcare, legal status and other important services. According to data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in the four months since the approval of this form of protection and so far, some 10,400 refugees from Ukraine have applied for temporary protection, and just over 6,000 have already received an identity document.
The mechanism for offering temporary protection status to displaced persons is a precedent for Moldovan legislation, explained Jana Costachi, state secretary at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, to Radio Moldova. She added that the document can be requested at the General Inspectorate for Migration, either at the office or online, and is issued within 30 minutes, but requires the refugee to have a document issued by the Ukrainian authorities and to have a place to live in Moldova.
"Temporary protection means the following: I apply to the State of the Republic of Moldova for an identity document which gives me the right to stay in the territory of the Republic of Moldova for one year, March 2023-March 2024, and I act under the same conditions as I do, as you do. In order to avoid the traffic jams there is the possibility to make an appointment for the actual interview with the inspector from the General Inspectorate for Migration, to do this procedure online," said the Secretary of State. Jana Costachi stressed that the state has the capacity to provide local identity documents for about 100 thousand Ukrainian refugees.
However, refugees face difficulties in obtaining this status and procedures should be simplified. One of the problems is proof of residence, and Moldovan citizens hosting refugees are often unwilling to provide this information, says Raisa, a refugee from Ukraine. The woman came to Moldova in March 2022 and in May this year, after an arduous procedure, she finally managed to obtain temporary protection. She told Radio Moldova that temporary protection gives her more rights and facilities, including access to services.
"I am very grateful, everything went smoothly. It was difficult to apply, I managed to register only on my third attempt. When we arrived at the scheduled appointment, the staff at the entrance told us that our documents were not suitable, that we needed a contract instead of a declaration. Then there was a problem with the fingerprint scan because the camera didn't work, so we had to go to the Forensic Centre to undergo a full mechanical fingerprinting procedure. I think this process should be simplified. Now I have been granted temporary protection status, I am working legally. Thanks to this, many problems have been solved, I have access to medical and social services," said the refugee.
More information about temporary protection status can be found on the government portal "dopomoga.gov.md".
