THANKS TO THE SUPPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS THE BORDER GUARD SERVICE OF REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA WILL ACTIVATE BETTER.

The ceremony of putting into use of the rooms of temporal maintenance for the asylum seekers at the border and of the transmission of photo/video equipment to improve the capacity of the Border Guard Service of Republic of Moldova in the Regional Program of Protection of the Refugee in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine

On November 28, 2011, within the border crossing point Leuseni, in the presence of Mr. Peter Kessler, Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Moldova (UNHCR) and of Mr. Roman Revenco, General Director of the Border Guard Service, took place the official ceremony of giving into use of the rooms of temporal maintenance for asylum seekers, restored and furnished in six locations of the state border.

This activity was implemented in the Regional Program of Protection of the Refugee in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, funded by the European Union and implemented by UNHCR, and the total value of the investment exceeds 500 000 MDL.

Thus, at the International Airport Chisinau, border crossing points “Leuseni” and “Palanca”, and also at the border pickets “Criva”, “Sculeni” and “Giurgiulesti”, were created optimal conditions to maintain up to 24 hours, in conformity with the national legislation  in the asylum field, of the asylum seekers which require protection from the Republic of Moldova at the state border and which are taken by the representative of the Bureau of Migration and Asylum of Ministry of Internal Affairs for substantive examination 

At the same ceremony were transmitted a set of photo/video equipment with a total value of 150 000 MDL. This equipment will be used by the staff of the Border Guard Service in the process of exercising the duties related to the asylum seekers applications filed at the border, in strict accordance with the national legislation in the asylum field and international principles of human rights protection. Creating adequate reception conditions for asylum seekers at the border, and the purchasing and transmitting the equipment takes place within the Regional Program of Protection of the Refugee (RPP) which includes activities in Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. The project was launched on 1^st April, 2009, and the first phase will be finished at the end of the 2011 year, with a budget for Moldova of 400 000 EURO.

The main objective of the project is to help ensure the fact that asylum seekers and refugees beneficiate of protection and assistance in conformity with the international standards. In the process of management of the complex migration flows. The project seeks to ensure that those three countries allow the access of all persons requiring international protection, and the procedure of determining the refugee status it is correct and efficient. In the project, UNHCR offers assistance to the authorities that activate in the field of border management, migration and asylum in order to facilitate the cooperation and improving the transfer procedure of the asylum application s and asylum seekers by the authority responsible of determining the refugee status. Are also implemented a number of activities to strengthen authorities and social society capacity, including a training strategy, which covers the necessity to improve the knowledge on the principles of protection, migration and asylum.

This project is guided by the 1951 UN Convention on the Refugee Status and the 1967 Protocol joined by Belarus and Moldova in 2001, followed by Ukraine in 2002.

For more information about the project please contact: Marin Roman, UNHCR în Republica Moldova, tel. 27 18 53, roman@unhcr.org