Moldovans honoured for their warm welcome to refugees from Ukraine
Moldovans honoured for their warm welcome to refugees from Ukraine
Refugees from Ukrainian arrive at a transport hub close to the border crossing at Palanca, Moldova, in May 2022.
As these scenes unfolded at the Palanca border crossing between Ukraine and its smallest neighbour, Moldova, Moldovan citizens were already mobilizing to help the arriving refugees. Donations of food, warm clothes and blankets began pouring to the border, people arrived in private vehicles to offer transportation, and across the country families opened their doors to those fleeing.
Among them were Zaharii and Tatiana Arama, a couple who run a guest house surrounded by gently rolling fields and vineyards a few kilometres from the border at Palanca village. When refugees began streaming across the border, they joined many of their neighbours in providing hot meals and a place to sleep, opening their guesthouse to families from Ukraine and, when that was full, setting up camp beds in their own home.
“You see people in need, scared…it’s a human thing to help,” Zaharii told reporters in 2022. “That’s the way we were brought up. We did what we had to do.”
"It's a human thing to help."
Community building
This warm welcome was repeated across Moldova, despite being a country with many pressing challenges and limited resources. With a total population of only 2.5 million, the country has recorded more than 1 million people from Ukraine crossing its border since the start of the full-scale war, and over 100,000 refugees are still being hosted nearly three years on.
The commitment of the Moldovan people goes beyond emergency response. It is a long-term project of inclusion and community building, where refugees are not just welcomed but also given the tools and opportunities to contribute to their new society. Moldovan citizens, civil society organizations and the authorities work hand-in-hand to ensure that these new members of their community have access to education, employment and social services, fostering a sense of belonging in a foreign land.
A child's painting saying "Thank you Moldova" hangs in the window of a factory in Chișinău converted into accommodation for refugees from Ukraine.
In recognition of the remarkable support and solidarity they have shown to more than 1 million refugees from Ukraine, the people of Moldova will receive honourable mention at the 2024 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award ceremony in Geneva on 14 October.
Olena Prysyazhniuk arrived in Moldova with her parents and two daughters on the first day of the full-scale invasion, after fleeing her home in Vinnytsia some 100 kilometres north of Moldova.
“To be honest, I didn’t plan on going to any country in particular. Moldova was the closest,” Prysyazhniuk said. “We were welcomed here with plenty of care and support. The love we've experienced here helped us to heal and persuaded us to stay.”
Ukrainian refugee Olena Prysyazhniuk sits near a lake where she regularly paddleboards in Moldova's capital Chișinău.
Within a week of arriving in the capital, Chișinău, Prysyazhniuk had secured a job and a place to live with a local host family. Having found her feet and regained her confidence, the former city council worker established two NGOs in Moldova that promote international collaboration through educational, sporting and cultural projects. She also channelled her passion for stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) by establishing the SUP Family Club.
“I felt accomplished and needed because I was helping people like me,” Prysyazhniuc explained. “I believe that only when you help yourself can you help others.”
Small country, big heart
Igor Calancea is the Deputy Head of Regional Emergency Situations in the southern Moldovan district of Căușeni, and was involved in the government’s establishment of a transit facility near the Palanca border crossing which became the main point of entry for people fleeing Ukraine.
"We were welcomed here with plenty of care and support."
“Setting up a camp was not something new, but seeing so many worried people asking for your help was something new and very emotional. I had never seen so many people mobilized across the territory of the Republic of Moldova,” Calancea said. “People came who simply offered to be hosts or to bring food and supplies. It was something special and uplifting, something that made you realize that nothing is lost.”
As Calancea reflected on the country’s collective effort to welcome refugees from Ukraine, the pride he felt at seeing the people of Moldova rise to the challenge was clear.
“Everyone mobilized, and now in 2024, we can say that from the highest level of government to the most ordinary citizen, they made an essential contribution. As our people say, it is a small country but with a big heart.”
