In the Republic of Moldova, there are about 2,000 persons who are officially recognized as stateless persons. Another 2,000 people are classed as persons with indefinite nationality. There are about 10,000 people in the Republic of Moldova who risk becoming stateless persons. The persons with the nationality of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic are the most vulnerable category, head of the Statelessness and Information Section of the Ministry of the Interior Iulian Popov said in a press club meeting staged by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Journalistic Investigations Center.
“As a result of the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, a category of persons remained without valid identification papers. These are stateless persons and persons who risk becoming stateless persons due to a number of reasons – someone either didn’t meet the legal requirements for obtaining Moldovan nationality or didn’t apply in time to have the documents renewed. It’s not clear if these persons will obtain the nationality of the Republic of Moldovan and if they meet the conditions for being recognized,” stated Iulian Popov.
According to him, two years ago, as a result of a campaign to renew the official papers of citizens with Soviet-type passports, over 200,000 persons avoided remaining without documents. Daily, one or two persons submit applications to the Migration and Asylum Office to have their status of stateless person recognized, and the number is on the rise.
“The problem is that in most of the cases, the persons who hold Soviet-type passports are included only in paper archives and the information about them cannot be found in electronic population registers. If the person, even if this is a citizen of the Republic of Moldova with stamp in the Soviet-type passport, loses this passport, this will immediately have to prove his/her nationality and will be thus in a difficult situation,” said Iulian Popov.
Head of the UNHCR Office in the Republic of Moldova Traian Turcanu said that the Republic of Moldova, after it ratified the UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, became a leader in the region and at world level as regards the procedure for determining the status of stateless person by law. He called on those who possess Soviet-type passports and want to possess valid identity cards to go to the competent bodies to benefit from free legal assistance and from a well-defined procedure for obtaining valid identification papers.
