The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Moldova deals with the social protection of refugees and also with the problems of the own citizens. “We are involved in this process for 20 hours of 24, but hope to return to normality,” Minister of Labor and Social Protection Marcel Spatari stated in a public debate hosted by IPN News Agency.
The official explained that the Ministry should return to what it needs to do – policies for the own citizens, for the state. The management of humanitarian crises is the remit of international organizations that have mechanisms in this regard. The refugee crisis will be from now on managed not by the state and not by volunteers, but by international organizations that came to Moldova with teams of experts, with resources and gradually assume the management of the crisis.
The refugee crises all over the world are handled by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and by other UN agencies that have funds of billions of US dollars and will use them to ensure the integration of refugees in the Republic of Moldova. “I, my mates and the volunteers during the first two weeks became involved to a great extent as we had to react and to design regulations and financing mechanisms, to supply the centers with goods, beds, mattresses, pillows and whatever they needed. But things are now changed. The secretary of state is discussing with the representative of UNHCR so as to agree all the necessary activities. There will be created special teams of employees for the purpose,” said Marcel Spatari, noting Moldova does not have permanent employees who would wait to help 100,000 refugees and capacities are being built when the problem appears.
It was estimated that at least about 10 million lei was spent from the state budget. The received donations help the authorities to cover the incurred costs. Lithuania donated 15 million lei. The Moldovan citizens donated about 12 million lei. Costs will be yet incurred and the assistance of the international organizations will be increasingly absorbed.
The Commission for Exceptional Situations took measures to supplement the field personnel of the Ministry of the Interior and to appropriately pay the involved persons for the additional working hours. “Carabineers and police officers were assigned to maintain public order at all the placement centers,” stated Marcel Spatari.
As to the reports about cases of appropriation of funds that were to be used to manage the refugee crisis, the minister said steps were taken and ordinances were made for the judicial system. The problems related to corruption and abuse are in the focus. The Ministry of Justice submitted a series of proposals to the Commission for Exceptional Situations and these were accepted.
The public debate titled “Refugees: Ukrainian exam for Moldovan society’s resilience” was the 227th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is implemented with support from the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
