Refugees in Moldova demand observance of their rights

A group of refugees accuse the Moldovan authorities of ignoring and delaying the procedure of offering identity papers and passports to the persons who have been granted refugee status in Moldova, Info-Prim Neo reports. Hamid Asim, the chairman of a refugees’ association, has told a news conference on Monday all his efforts to convince the relevant authorities to deal with the problems facing the refugees in Moldova have been in vain. The association’s representatives say that although Moldova adopted the Refugee Status Law in 2002, roughly 90 percent of the refugees living in Moldova are still lacking the necessary papers. Hamid Asim states that the Republic of Moldova has to honor its obligations to the refugees to live up to the status of a country granting shelter to asylum seekers. Until now, the members of the association have sought help from a multitude of institutions and officials. For that purpose, a series of letters were sent to President Vladimir Voronin, Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev and chairman of the parliamentary commission for the defense of human rights Stefan Secareanu. Two years after sending those letters the situation hasn’t changed a bit. The refugees are promised their problems will be solved, but nothing has been done to effect change. According to the refugees, the nongovernmental organizations that are supposed to deal with their problems have failed to improve the situation whatsoever. They claim the only thing these organizations are good at is to use the funds destined for the refugees in their own interests. Because they do not have the necessary papers, most of the refugees are unable to get a job legally and enjoy the advantages of an employment record card. For the same reason, they can’t get the legally due housing and welfare. At the same time, their access to education, medical and social assistance is rather limited, while their children are not able to fully enjoy the rights the other children have in Moldova. Another serious problem in the refugees’ opinion is the impossibility to leave the country because they do not have any travel documents. Many of them were not able to attend funerals, weddings and other important events that took place in their homeland. To solve the existing problems, the refugees intend to take legal action against the Republic of Moldova. Their intention is to seek justice at the European Court of Human Rights, and even though they admit they wouldn’t normally resort to such measures, the current circumstances constrain them to do so. The Republic of Moldova is home to about 160 refugees, only 40 of whom have been issued with identity papers.