Assistance to refugees
Romania continues to provide support to the Ukrainian citizens fleeing war in their country.
Corina Cristea, 18.03.2022, 13:45
In the three weeks since war broke out in the neighbouring Ukraine, over half a million Ukrainian refugees have crossed the border into Romania, and the exodus continues. Some 80,000 have stayed, including 32,000 minors.
Checks at border crossing points are being conducted without any problems, and the Romanian authorities are not turning anyone away, not even Ukrainian men subject to the martial law declared in their country following the Russian invasion, said the Romanian interior minister Lucian Bode:
“For us, the number one priority is to provide humanitarian assistance to those fleeing war. Naturally, the interior ministry knows exactly how many men, women and children have crossed the border. If they have their papers in order, the border police and the Romanian state cannot deny access to Romanian territory to anyone, not even to men over the age of 18 who are subject to martial law. Of course there are exceptions, for example men who have at least three minor children or who have medical exemptions, but this has to be checked by the Ukrainian state. Our responsibility is to check everyone who enters Romanian territory.”
A large number of refugees continues to pass through border check points, people, who benefit from all needed support once they reach Romania, such as food, accommodation, medical assistance, transport, access to education for children and access to the labour market for adults who wish to find employment here. A hotline in Ukrainian is also available for refugees to facilitate communication with the medical staff thanks to an association (“Zi de bine”) in partnership with a company providing telemedicine services.
To improve the management of refugee flows, a train connection between Zorleni, Fălciu and the border with the Republic of Moldova will be reopened. Closed in 2015, this line crosses Prut river and provides direct connection with Cantemir station, which is a railway border crossing point on the Moldovan border. “This forms part of ongoing efforts to support the people fleeing Ukraine and who are arriving in Romania via the Republic of Moldova”, said transport minister Sorin Grindeanu. He added that all necessary measures are being constantly taken to ensure transit corridors providing easy connections to other big cities around Romania and the border crossings into other neighbouring countries. (CM)
