Moldova Seven Moldovan children returned to a normal life

Project : Moldova 30 Mar 2010 | abandonement mother-child integration social exclusion inclusion victim protection

The Moldovan Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family (MLSPF) in close cooperation with the “Terre des hommes”(Tdh) Foundation in the Republic of Moldova go on with their activities of repatriation and reintegration of Moldovan children abandoned abroad by their parents –migrants.

The main destinations of migration routes continue to be the post-Soviet countries: Russian Federation and Ukraine, due to their relative accessibility for Moldovan citizens.

On March 23- 25, 2010 Tdh Foundation within its project ‘FACT Transnational Action’ has supported the repatriation mission of seven Moldovan children, identified on the territory of the Russian Federation. The mission was carried out by the Moldovan Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family.

Four boys and three girls are between 0.5 and 11, the circumstances, as well as the place of their identification vary from case to case. According to the information of Tdh three children were abandoned by their parents in Russia, other three became victims of parental neglect and the last child became an orphan because of the death of both parents.

Often, the repatriation leads the children into a stress situation. First of all, because the repatriated children often return to the same conditions of poverty, despair and violence, from which children tried to escape by going abroad. That’s why their rehabilitation and reintegration process could be long and difficult for children and could demand a lot of attention, time and efforts from responsible authorities.

After children’s repatriation they are going to follow the rehabilitation procedure in two rehabilitation centers from Chisinau. Afterwards some of the children are going to be reintegrated in their immediate or extended families in Moldova and others will be placed in child protection institutions.

The mission of Tdh does not end here. Tdh’s specialist in close cooperation with Moldovan guardianship services are going to elaborate the Individual Reintegration Plans for each child, aiming at facilitating their family, educational and social reintegration. These plans provide child protection actions that include administrative assistance (establishment of guardianship), material and financial assistance (buying clothes, shoes, etc), as well as foresee the monitoring of the child cases by the specialists. [NM]