The youngest of the 33 children repatriated to Moldova last year was a 2-month-old infant. The Ministry of Labor, Social Protection and Family told IPN that the children were repatriated from Russia and Ukraine.

Igor Chisca of the division for family and children's rights protection policies explained that in most cases the children are taken abroad by their parents who then abandon them or exploit them for labor or begging. Some children are born abroad by Moldovan citizens.

In 2014, the Ministry organized 17 repatriation missions, bringing back 15 children from Ukraine and 18 from Russia, who were left without parental care abroad. Afterwards, 15 of them have been reintegrated in their biological or extended families, 6 have been placed under professional parental care and 12 in temporary placement centers.

The age of the repatriated children varies from 2 months to 17 years.