Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine half a year ago, the territory of the Republic of Moldova has been transited by over half a million refugees from the neighboring state. Today, our country hosts 89,000 Ukrainian refugees. And whereas during the months of April thorough May, the number of refugees decreased from 95,000 to 75,000, during the summer months the number has started to increase again. The information was presented by Col. Adrian Efros, head of the Crisis Management Center, during a press conference held to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day on August 24.

Col. Efros said that in the six months since the outbreak of the war, more than 65,000 refugees have been accommodated in the 130 temporary placement centers. Today, 74 temporary placement centers are active in the country, hosting more than 3,000 Ukrainian refugees. Seven other centers are under the management of the Asylum Migration Office with a capacity of two thousand beds. Here the refugees are accommodated for free and have access to all the necessary services.

Thanks to the involvement of Moldova’s foreign partners and of non-governmental organizations, all these centers are provided with free food, with 1.5 million hot meals being distributed to date. Refugees also have free access to health care, and in six months almost 20,000 calls for primary, emergency or hospital care assistance were responded to. This includes 129 Ukrainian women who gave birth in Moldova, 340 seriously ill patients who received chemotherapy or radio therapy, and patients who received over 800 dialysis sessions. For more complex and expensive treatment, 30 refugee patients were transferred to Europe.

In these six months, refugee children were enrolled in the educational institutions of the Republic of Moldova, and for those who study online in Ukrainian schools, rooms with computers and Internet access were provided.

Col. Efros also said that in order to help the refugees and the families who hosted them, the authorities raised more than 162 million lei to date, with 73% of it absorbed. At the same time, Moldova received 590 humanitarian batches for refugees worth a total 323 million lei. Moldova also granted humanitarian aid to Ukraine totaling 43 million lei.