Temporary protection helps refugees from Ukraine make the most of their time in Moldova
© UNHCR/Eugenia Ciurca
When Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine suddenly turned life upside-down for Mila, she had already been facing enormous challenges for several months.” I fought cancer, then the real war started,” she says. „I arrived in Moldova very thin, with short-short hair. My husband was always there for me.”
Though it has been nine months since Mila and her husband arrived in a refugee accommodation centre in the small village of Greblești in the Republic of Moldova, she still ruminates on her decision to leave, and it wasn’t an easy decision.
“For about a month, every day we would say ‘That’s it, today we’re leaving.’ The feeling of being home is incomparable – even though we were bombarded, we were home.” The family have worked hard to make the most of the opportunities they found in Moldova. “We both signed up for courses to learn how to massage and every night we went online to learn Romanian. We wanted to be involved in something, to be part of something bigger.” Registering for temporary protection status, which the Government announced in March, was a natural next step.
They learned of the status on social media, then spoke with the local NGO Centrul de Drept al Avocaților, The Law Center of Advocates, to learn about how to apply. ” Temporary Protection status is a chance to integrate into Moldovan society,” Mila explains. Her husband, Victor, adds: “We don’t know what the future will bring, but we are trying to make the most of our present.” Because they could not visit a registration centre, a mobile unit from the Government came to their accommodation centre to help them register.
Temporary protection helps refugees from Ukraine make the most of their time in Moldova
Temporary protection helps refugees from Ukraine make the most of their time in Moldova
Temporary protection helps refugees from Ukraine make the most of their time in Moldova
Temporary protection helps refugees from Ukraine make the most of their time in Moldova
Temporary protection allows the family a more secure legal status, and access to rights and services, for at least a year until March 2024. This stability helps them focus on their lives here. “We are tired. We don’t have the age and energy to start again, build, or plan. I want to keep the calm and stability I found in Moldova,” says Mila.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has been collaborating with the Government to implement its temporary protection programme, including by providing support to the registration process and mobile units that help refugees like Mila and Victor.
More than 8,474 refugees from Ukraine have registered for temporary protection status in Moldova, as of 17 July 2023.
UNHCR continues to assist refugees and vulnerable communities in the Republic of Moldova thanks to the generous support from the European Union, France, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Denmark, and the United States of America.
* Names changed for protection reasons
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