Most of the Moldovan children who are trafficked abroad are forced into begging. A part of them are abandoned by their parents. Some of them accept to go abroad because they broke the law. They come to an understanding with the traffickers without knowing what expects them in a foreign country. The subject is being discussed at a roundtable meeting in Chisinau. The largest part of the trafficked Moldovan children are repatriated from Ukraine, Russia and Romania, the head of the Interior Ministry’s Minors Division Maria Popovici has told Info-Prim Neo. “In 2008, the law enforcement bodies repatriated 34 children, including children that were begging. There are cases when the children get lost or are abandoned by the parents as well as cases when the children are repatriated from Moldova to their own country. Nine such cases were reported last year and three cases in the first months of this year,” Maria Popovici said. The number of repatriated children was the same as in 2007 and the problem remains acute, the official of the Interior Ministry said. “A 16-year-old boy committed offences in Moldova. To escape punishment, he hid in Ukraine and then Russia. When identified by the Russian police, he was repatriated. In Moldova, he was amnestied. He now goes to a vocational school and teaches to be a locksmith. We are looking for employment for him,” said Nelly Lelenco, deputy head of the Placement Center for Minors. “When repatriated, the children are taken to a temporary placement center, where they benefit from psychological assistance. The social assistants examine the situation of the biological family. If there are conditions for education, the child is integrated or there is identified another protection method,” she added. The repatriation is carried out under the ministerial agreements between the CIS states. The roundtable meeting “Minors – Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings” was organized by the Embassy of France and the French Alliance in Moldova in cooperation with the International Office for Migration. It is held in Chisinau during June 15-16.