Immigration and Border Management

To understand IOM’s work in the Migration Management field one should know that the Republic of Moldova is a country of origin of many migrants that choose to go to EU-member states, the Russian Federation and other states. However, the country is also used as a country of transit for migrants from other regions such as Central Asia and the Middle East.

IOM’s activities in this field are meant to promote and protect the rights of migrants within the country as well as abroad. However, Migration Management activities should be seen against the background of transnational crime, which sometimes involves trafficking in persons.

At first, IOM activity in Moldova focused on countering the trafficking of human beings. Today, IOM focuses on building capacity of relevant national actors to provide an effective state response to irregular migration challenges.

This is achieved by developing policies for efficient migration management, strengthening communication and cooperation amongst key actors, operational and strategic cooperation on readmission, information exchange on routes and methods utilized by the organizers of irregular migration and transnational crimes.

The mentioned efforts are meant to ensure public order and security in Moldova and will contribute to regional efforts of combatting irregular migration and trans-border crime.

IOM has also significantly contributed to the conclusion of the Readmission and Visa Facilitation Agreement with the EU, implementation of the EU-Moldova Visa liberalization Action plan and the subsequent visa free regime, as well as the entering of Moldova into the association agreement with the European Union.