UNHCR Regional Representative for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine Oldrich Andrysek welcomes the achievements of Moldova in the domain of its national asylum and statelessness legislation and its bringing in line with international standards, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting a press release from UNHCR While on an official visit to Moldova, Oldrich Andrysek expressed appreciation for Moldova’s plans to accede to the UN Statelessness Convention in 2011, and praised the Moldovan Government for the exceptionally constructive cooperation. “UNHCR’s priority in the Republic of Moldova in 2011 is to provide assistance to the government to strengthen the asylum system, monitor the implementation of the 1951 Refugee Convention, support the Bureau for Migration and Asylum in asylum claims processing and the integration of refugees, and to strengthen the capacity of NGO’s working with asylum seekers, refugees and beneficiaries of humanitarian protection,” it is said in the press release. “The UNHCR Representation Office in Moldova looks forward to working closely with the government of Moldova this year as UNHCR commemorates the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 50th anniversary of the 1961 Statelessness Convention,” said Peter Kessler, UNHCR Representative to Moldova. Oldrich Andrysek paid his first official visit to Moldova during January 16-19 after his appointment as UNHCR Regional Representative for Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. UNHCR has been working in the Republic of Moldova since 1997 to support the government in implementing the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol and in adopting the Law on Asylum in Moldova. The first national law in the domain of asylum – Law on the Refugee Status – was adopted in July 2002. In December 2008, it was adopted the Law on Asylum in Moldova. The new law entered into force on 13 March 2009.