Info centers for migrants to be opened in consulates of Moldova

All the consular offices of the Republic of Moldova abroad will have info centers for migrants, to provide requested assistance and information. Foreign vice minister, Valeriu Ostalep, told a news conference on Wednesday, September 7, that these centers will appear within a year, while the first ones – within 6 months. The cited source specified that protecting Moldova’s citizens settled abroad, regardless their statuses, is the Government’s priority. Mr. Ostalep also promised a Guide for Migrants in this respect, which is to be issued in the near future. Ilan Cohn, program coordinator at the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Mission to Moldova, supported the necessity of proving information to citizens settled abroad. Mr. Cohn noted that the R. Moldova is one of the countries greatly influenced by the amount of remittances coming from abroad. Though only 7% of these funds are invested, the rest of them are spent for consumption. Mr. Cohn believes that the info centers’ experts will advise the migrants on ways and means of making investments in Moldova. In this respect, roughly 20 employees of Moldova’s consulates, as well as from the MFA Consular Affairs Department, are participating this week in a program for intensive training and consultancy in migration matters. These are closely familiarized with the tasks within consular offices, especially of the consul in labor force management. At the same time, the participants will gain knowledge of practices of implementing activities related to creating and strengthening Moldovan Diaspora and communities abroad. Other issues of the program concern migrants’ protection, ways of partnership for improving relations between the Diaspora and the motherland, etc. The activities are part of the project “Increasing the capability of the MFA Consular Affairs Department’s personnel”, financed by the Norwegian MFA and administrated by the IOM.