Approximately 700 children are listed missing in Moldova each year. In 98% of the cases, the minors leave home or placement centers voluntarily. In rare cases, the children get lost. There are also cases when the minors become victims of accidents or offenses. The data were presented in an event staged on the occasion of International Missing Children’s Day on May 25, IPN reports.
National Public Security Inspectorate head Alexei Grosu said that among the factors that favor the disappearance of children are the leaving of minors unsupervised or in the care of grandparents, when the parents go abroad to work. The lack of beneficial communication in the family is also a problem. There are cases when the minors leave home, abandoning school, being afraid of the reaction of the close ones to the less satisfactory results at school. The children also leave under the influence of negative circles or owing to the precarious socioeconomic situation of the family.
Alexei Grosu noted that most of the minors are identified during the first 48 hours of the notification of the police. The chances of finding a missing child decrease with the passing of time and the adults should thus inform the police as swiftly as possible. The parents should immediately call the emergency service 112 as any information is important.
Viorica Matas, executive director of the public association “Concordia. Proiecte sociale” (“Social projects”), said the number of children who voluntarily leave home or placement centers is rather high. The association and the police worked out a plan of action for preventing this phenomenon. In 2019, with the assistance of services intended for children and young people, over 240 beneficiaries took part in training seminars moderated by employees of the General Police Inspectorate. The seminars also involved employees of placement centers and these learned know how to react when a child leaves the service where they are placed.
