The Moldovan authorities do not make sufficient effort to help the Ukrainian refugees who transit the Republic of Moldova, Fiodor Ghelici, official representative of the international Intergovernmental Organization for Educational Development to the UN, stated in a news conference hosted by IPN.
Fiodor Ghelici said the Ukrainians are left face to face with problems that they don’t know how to solve. He presented a number of examples when citizens of Ukraine experienced situations when customs inspectors or border police officers showed no common sense.
“The authorities in Chisinau say they support Ukraine, but the citizens of Ukraine say that Moldova is an enemy of Ukraine and the Moldovans are accomplices to the war. Ukrainians say the Moldovans rob them as the Russian aggressors do. I cite persons from Ukraine and bear responsibility for every said word. What the Moldovan border police do is shameful. Women who transit Moldova and have electric generators and power accumulators remain without these items when they leave Moldova as they are confiscated on different pretexts,” stated Fiodor Ghelici.
“A woman from Ukraine who had a six-month-old child was not allowed to cross the Republic of Moldova because she didn’t have a passport for the child, being advised to make “a white passport”. I and my colleagues were eyewitnesses to this event. Another woman, who is the manager of a kindergarten and had an electric generator, transited the Republic of Moldova and was deprived of this by customs inspectors when leaving the country. When I learned about this case, I talked to representatives of the customs authorities and 30 minutes later I was called and told that the woman can go and take the generator,” said Fiodor Ghelici.
He noted that he repeatedly asked the National Anticorruption Center, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office and other institutions to take measures to avoid such situations, but he didn’t receive responses. He sent two letters to the chief of the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office Veronica Dragalin, but didn’t get a reaction. “I requested all the confidential information about what is happening at customs posts, but no reaction followed,” stated Fiodor Ghelici.
Lawyer Gennady Covali, the representative of Ukrainian citizens who suffered somehow when crossing Moldovan-Ukrainian frontier posts, said the situation is confusing and Ukrainians suffer because of the blunders committed by the Border Police. A woman at the Palanca border crossing point was told by customs inspectors to empty her pockets. She initially refused, but then complied, explaining that a taxi was waiting for her to take her to the airport and she risked missing the Chisinau – Istanbul flight. But the customs inspectors suspected the permit found in her bag was false and she was arrested. It took them four hours to elucidate the situation and the woman was late for the flight. The woman filed a lawsuit and sued for damages.
The lawyer said he handles one more scandalous case concerning the confiscation of personal belongings ordered by Ukrainians through online trading platforms, which are transported through Moldova. “A vehicle came from Ukraine to Moldova to take an order that entered the country through the Chisinau Airport, but the goods were confiscated and have been held for 81 days because customs representatives of the Republic of Moldova have particular suspicions,” stated Gennady Covali.
The official representative of the international Intergovernmental Organization for Educational Development to the UN Fiodor Ghelici called on the senior administration of Moldova to devote special attention to the situation at border crossing points and to help the Ukrainians in difficulty.
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