IDMC : Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre | Countries | Moldova | Republic of Moldova: Uncertainty about the integration of displaced from the Transdniestrian region

Following its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Moldova - one of the poorest countries in Europe - faced its own internal secessionist uprising as the Russian and Ukrainian population in the Transdniestrian region sought independence. The armed conflict internally displaced up to 51,000 people and forced up to 80,000 people to seek refuge in third countries, mainly in neighbouring Ukraine. A ceasefire signed in July 1992 enabled large numbers of the IDPs and most refugees to return home, although the hostility of the secessionist regime in the Transdniestrian region towards those who do not support its separatist line has endangered the integration of returnees. According to governmental sources, up to 25,000 IDPs were still displaced from the Transdniestrian region in 2003, although authorities have been unable to document this figure. In contrast, there were only 1,000 IDPs of concern to UNHCR at the end of 2002. It is unknown whether those who have not returned to the Transdniestrian region have voluntary resettled durably in Moldova proper or whether they still have the intention to return. The Moldovan government needs to make a proper assessment of the situation of those displaced from the Transdniestrian region, in particular with regard to their preferred solution. The Transdniestrian authorities, for their part, must uphold the right of IDPs to return by ending all discrimination against the Moldovan community and providing conditions of safety and dignity to returnees.