The new head office of the Asylum and Statelessness Division of the General Inspectorate for Migration and the desk for issuing documents to beneficiaries of temporary protection were opened officially. The new head office will server foreigners who ask for temporary protection or for other forms of protection in the Republic of Moldova and also foreigners who ask to have their status of stateless person recognized, IPN reports, with reference to the Government’s press service.

“We proved that our society not only declares, but also abides by the European values. This was also evident in the way we managed the refugee crisis together – citizens, volunteers, nongovernmental organizations, private enterprises, the Government and the local public authorities,” Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița said in the inaugural ceremony.

All the offices were organized so as to ensure the functionality of services and to avoid crowdedness at desks. The head office has 42 workplaces.

“During the first months of war, the work to register and welcome refugees was done in the open air and in tents pitched near border crossing points, in winter. A temporary camp was then set up and the activities were carried out in heated tents. In less than a year, we have a building equipped according to international standards so that we can offer support to all the refugees who need international protection,” said Minister of Home Affairs Ana Revenco.

The outfitting of the head office was possible thanks to the support from the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), which provided over US$1.5 million.

More than 750,000 Ukrainians entered the Republic of Moldova since the war in Ukraine started. About 102,000 of these stay in Moldova. Over 11,000 persons asked for asylum.