Even if three is active communication between the Ukrainian refugees and many websites in the Republic of Moldova were translated into Ukrainian, there is a shortcoming here and some of the refugees do not have access to useful information or they don’t know where to look for the information they need. There are common chats in Telegram and on other channels where the Ukrainian refugees seek help for them and later benefit from support, Roman Russu, administrator of the Ukrainian refugee placement center situated on Drumul Viilor St in Chisinau, stated in a public debate on the issue staged by IPN News Agency.
Roman Russu noted that the Ukrainians who fled from the war can seek help through the green line of the Ukrainian refugee placement center he represents.
According to the center’s administrator, the refugees who do not have IDs at all face the biggest difficulties. A large family, including four generations, came to Moldova after their house in Chernigov was bombarded by the Russian army and many of their documents were destroyed. They wanted to go further than Moldova, but were unable to as they didn’t have the required papers. The persons of Roma ethnicity who found refuge in Moldova also encounter difficulties as these people didn’t obtain documents for their children even before the start of the war.
Roman Russu noted that he does not know cases when Ukrainian refugees had their rights violated. Some of the Ukrainians cannot find a job according to their studies because they do not know Romanian. It goes primarily to managers. At the same time, many young people who came from Ukraine became employed at a restaurant in Moldova where Russian is spoken.
According to Roman Russu, the Ukrainian refugee placement center from Drumul Viilor St now accommodates about 50 persons and most of them wait for documents for them or spend time at the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Moldova. While the Ukrainian adults are away, a volunteer works with the refugee children. There are special areas intended for activities for minors.
The administrator said that most of the Ukrainians who fled the country due to the war and came to Moldova inform themselves primarily from social media. Other Ukrainians inform themselves from relatives who remained in Ukraine. There are risks that some of the refugees will be misinformed, including about the provocations taking place in the Transnistrian region. For example, some of the refugees read that a war can also start in Moldova on May 9 and they got into a panic. Initially, some of the Ukrainians didn’t understand why Moldova didn’t subscribe to the sanctions imposed against the Russian Federation, but they realized the reasons when they came to Chisinau.
The refugees who come to Moldova are form southern and eastern Ukraine and they supported pro-Russian parties in their country. These people cannot realize why something like this is happening in Ukraine as they had other impressions of the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the pro-Russian parties in Ukraine, noted Roman Russu.
The public debate titled “Ukrainian refugees: 75 days of peaceful coexistence in Moldova during war in their homeland” was the 243rd installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
