Three years of war in Ukraine // The Republic of Moldova is hosting over 127 thousand refugees
About 128,000 Ukrainian refugees are registered in the Republic of Moldova, and in all over 1.2 million people have transited the country since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, according to data published by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). Approximately 200,000 Ukrainians arrived in the Republic of Moldova in the first two months of the war alone.
According to the General Inspectorate for Migration (IGM), since March 1, 2023, when the mechanism for granting temporary protection to displaced persons from Ukraine was implemented, over 68 thousand Ukrainian refugees have benefited from state protection under this mechanism. Of these, approximately 20 thousand are children, and 10 thousand are over 60 years old. IGM informs that almost 3,000 Ukrainian citizens have benefited from the right to permanent residence in the Republic of Moldova and almost 3.8 thousand from temporary residence. Also, over 2.3 thousand Ukrainians have obtained Moldovan citizenship. Temporary protection has been granted to almost 69 thousand displaced persons from Ukraine.
Regarding integration into the labor market, according to official data, by February 7, 2025, over 1.6 thousand Ukrainian citizens were employed in various sectors of the Moldovan economy. Also, almost 2.5 thousand Ukrainian children were enrolled in schools in the Republic of Moldova, and approximately 600 of them attend preschool institutions.
A high number of Ukrainians benefited from integration measures provided by the IGM, participating in socio-cultural accommodation and Romanian language learning sessions. In 2024, over 14 thousand people from Ukraine participated in these programs, which included both educational activities and cultural events aimed at supporting their social integration.
To support the continuation of the integration process and support for Ukrainians on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, the Moldovan authorities propose to extend the term of granting temporary protection, reads a press release from the IGM. This decision reflects the ongoing commitment of the Republic of Moldova to support people who were forced to leave Ukraine due to the war and to ensure a stable legal and social framework for them, reads the cited source.
We remind you that the Republic of Moldova has faced one of the largest refugee flows per capita in Europe since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. In 2024, the people of the Republic of Moldova received honourable mention at the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award for their solidarity and support for Ukrainian refugees. This recognition highlights the rapid response and compassion with which the authorities and citizens of the Republic of Moldova have managed one of the largest forced displacement crises in modern European history.
