Palanca, Moldova
On April 10th, the number of border crossings at Palanca, Moldova reduced to zero, this was similar for other border crossings in the area such as Ceadîr Lunga-Maloiaroslaveț and Ceadîr Lunga – Novîe Troianî. As we had previously reported, this was a result of the lockdowns in Odessa on the 10th and 11th. Odessa authorities decided to lock down the city in the fear that Russia might attack for symbolic reasons. April 10th is known as the Anniversary of the Liberation of Odessa from Nazi Occupations.
“On April 10th, 1944 in the course of the Odessa operation, which took place 26th of March – 14th of April, 1944, the armies of the 3rd Ukrainian front liberated the city of Odessa. The symbol of the city's liberation from the occupants was the red banner raised on the very same day over the Opera theater.” According to the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library.
By April 11th, Odessa was still preparing for a fight that, thankfully, never came and had sandbags, hidden tanks, etc. ready. Border crossings picked back up on the 12th with the dropping of the lockdown and there was an increased influx of pedestrians coming from Mykolaiv, Kharkov and Odesa due to bombings. The Ukrainians crossing the border by foot originally arrived by busses and were dropped at the barrier of the border crossing police. Several buses from the Red Cross with mothers and their children were also spotted. The number of refugee pedestrians again reduced to zero by 7:00 p.m.
On April 15th there were additional reports that medical supplies are running critically low in Ukraine.
Otaci, Moldova
In Otaci, Moldova, at the northern border with Ukraine, there has been an increase in cross-border traffic. This has also been seen at crossings like Palanca. These are indicative of a few things. There is some ease felt with the news that Russian troops have withdrawn from the north. Many crossing over into Ukraine from Otaci are going shopping in Mogilev-Podolsk and some Ukrainians crossing over were visiting relatives in Romania.
The Ukrainians who were crossing over to Moldova as refugees (from Kharkiv and Kyiv) indicated that they intended to stay with friends or family in Moldova until the war was over. The Otaci and Briceni regions of Moldova have a very high ethnically Ukrainian population and the Ukrainian language is often spoken there.
In other areas of Moldova, people are returning to Ukraine due to financial struggles associated with living abroad (which is one of many reasons Moldovan grassroots organizations are frustrated with the delays in the cash assistance programs from international aid organizations). Some are also returning out of a desire to be with family members still in Ukraine. There have also been reports that some are returning for the agriculture season to work in the fields or to return to another area of work.
Northern crossings between Moldova and Ukraine have been much quieter than in the south. The west of Ukraine is still relatively safe and there is less reason to cross the border. If people are crossing the border in Western Ukraine they tend to cross further north into Poland, etc. There is also a great deal of internal displacement in Western Ukraine as many Ukrainians prefer to stay close to home in the hope that the invasion will end soon. This situation may soon change however as Russia recently hit Lviv with 5 missile strikes as of April 18th.
There is also a new increase in international aid organizations at Otaci, such as BlueDot, Frontex, OIM, ACTED, Doctors from MSF, and HHP Sweden. These organizations had previously been present in places like Palanca the week earlier. These organizations were delayed in arriving in the country by about a month, so much of the work they have done over the last week has been logistical.
Costesti-Stanca, Moldova
There was one report of an unmarried couple trying to cross into Romania and who were not granted access because the male partner of the couple (who had lived in Ukraine for 30+ years) did not have a visa for Romania. As a result, both were returned by the Romanian Border Police. There have been a number of instances at the Romanian border of various non-ethnically Ukrainian refugees having trouble crossing into Romania.
Bribes and Asylum seekers
Throughout the invasion, there have been a number of various reports coming out since the beginning of the invasion about bribes on the border. This is either with Ukrainian border guards or with some in the Roma population making false claims about transit. One report was of a Roma woman who took 2000 euros from 5 people with the promise of getting them across the border. She then disappeared with the money. Other reports of bribes of border guards have surfaced for a variety of reasons, often so a Ukrainian man can reach the Moldova border to ask for asylum.
Recent reports came out this week that Ukrainian military checkpoints headed towards the Palanca crossing are now preventing men from passing. This removes the possibility of getting to the border to seek asylum. There is a high number of asylum seekers at the Palanca station as a result of it being a direct entry point into Moldova and therefore a viable asylum access point.
As of April 15th, there have been 4073 asylum claims in Moldova. It should be noted that many (in the 90 percentile) who cross into Moldova do not seek asylum in Moldova because they are waiting to ask for asylum in a different European country.
Ukrainians staying in Moldova
There are a number of short and long term options for Ukrainains when it comes to staying in Moldova. The best known is Moldexpo, an expo-center turned COVID-19 center, turned refugees center. This week 332 people were documented there as of April 12th, with 226 adults, and 106 children. These are totals for the day of the 12th, not overall totals.
In another center, Testimiteanu, 167 people were documented as of April 12th including 60 men, 44 women, and 63 children. The refugee community included a number of non-ethnically Ukrainian members as well including 50 Azeribajani, 4 Turkish, 96 Roma, and 1 Russian.
In another center called Florilor there were 82 people including 36 women and 34 children, as well as 12 men as of April 12th.
As of April 12th, in a Doina center, there were 156 people including 94 adults and 62 children.
Ages 0-1 = 2
Ages 1-5 = 16
Ages 5-10 = 17
Ages 10+ = 27
People 65+ = 8
In general, Ukrainians make up about 80% of the refugee population with other parts largely being composed of ethnically Roma and Azerbajani refugees from the country.
There are also a number of longer term housing locations in the country that house a total of 260 refugees as of April 11th. This is in addition to the many Moldovan families that are hosting refugees. These numbers are not all-inclusive and country totals are much higher. Since the beginning of the invasion, Moldova has seen around 400,000 Ukrainians cross its borders: the highest per capita amount of any European country.
Currently, there has been an issue with cash assistance for refugees in Moldova. Aid for these programs has been slow to come and the infrastructure to disperse and maintain them has been slow to develop. Additionally, the wait time for assistance has been an issue for many refugees. Often refugees are only able to register for a call from these programs, not register directly. These calls are also delayed by weeks or longer. Even after being called and registering, refugees may still have a long wait time to receive funds. The situation has left many refugees worried about how to survive in the interim.
A second issue with cash assistance is assistance to the Moldovan families who are housing refugees. A one-time cash assistance program has been available, but the funds are low (with reports of payouts being around 150 euros). This is not sustainable for most families (even financially relatively well-off families) in the long or short term. These systems are being overseen by a number of international aid organizations.