Returning from a three-day mission to the Republic of Moldova, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, called on Member States on Wednesday 9 March to step up assistance to countries that are the frontline hosts of migrants fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Located between Ukraine and the European Union, Moldova is “facing an unprecedented situation”: “more than 243,000 people have entered the country”, “more than 100,000” were still there at the time of our mission there, and “many more are waiting at the border”, said Ms Mijatović.
The Moldovan authorities and people “are responding to the humanitarian emergency with very limited resources”, so “the situation remains extremely volatile”, she warned, urging the international community “to urgently step up its assistance to the most vulnerable countries of arrival”.
Ms Mijatović called for emergency funding and institutional support, including manpower and expertise, as a first step. She also called for special attention to be paid to very vulnerable women and children who may be victims of human trafficking.
This category of people reportedly represents 89% of those who fled to Moldova. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)