Moldovans in France ask hastening adoption of Antidiscrimination Law

Representatives of different public associations and organizations of Moldovans settled in France called upon the political class of Moldova to hasten the actions aimed at liberalizing the visa regime for Moldovan travelers in the EU. They refer to the adoption of the Law on the Prevention and Combating of Discrimination, known as the Antidiscrimination Law, which, according to the signatories of the appeal, is one of the conditions based on which Moldova can open a dialogue with the European authorities, Info-Prim Neo reports. The appeal is also addressed to representatives of public associations and the Church. “We, the citizens of Moldova living in France, witness daily hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands of family tragedies – separated families, children growing up without parents, the impossibility of saying good buy to relatives who pass away, of seeing the birth or weddings of children. We follow attentively the discussions on the Antidiscrimination Law. We are surprised by the fact that this bill is presented by political players, Church officials and representatives of civil society from a false perspective. The public opinion is mislead about its content, being informed that it is a law that favors or even promotes practices that go against the Orthodox traditions,” says the appeal. The Moldovans say that these statements are incoherent given that hundreds of thousands of Moldovans, including members and close persons of the families of those who are vehemently against the adoption of this law, work in the EU, where normative documents with a similar content have been applied for many years and the number of sex crimes, divorces or abandoned children did not exceed the levels recorded in the CIS. “The speculations and misinformation on the subject are absolutely groundless. In France for example, this law is in power, but the marriage remains a traditional union,” say the signatories. According to them, the attacks on the Antidiscrimination Law have only one goal – to sabotage Moldova’s European integration. “Those who are against this law defend evil political and geopolitical interests, ignoring the interests of the country and the ordinary people and deliberately overlooking the human tragedies related to the impossibility of traveling freely in the European area, ‘forgetting’ that the incomes of a large part of them come partially from the remittances sent by those working abroad,” said the Moldovans in France. They urged the Alliance for European Integration to step up the communication and dialogue with the people so as to explain to them and educate them on the method of applying and the necessity of adopting the Antidiscrimination Law and of vehemently combating any manipulation and speculation spread by continuously misinforming the ordinary people. The appeal was signed by the Association “IMPACT – Act Together Agissons Ensamble”, the Association “Jeunes Moldaves à Paris”, the initiative group “La Paris.net”, the Association of Bessarabian Doctors and Doctoral Students of France, the Association “Mihai Eminescu”, the Association of Moldovan Women in France, the Association “Pro-diaspora France”, and the Alliance for the Support of Bessarabia. The appeal was spread through social networking sites.