Countries like Moldova suffer a 10 percent increase in their population despite few resources and high levels of poverty

MADRID, 14 May. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The refugee crisis caused by the war in Ukraine is becoming a challenge for host communities that are already vulnerable and weakened due to lack of resources and high levels of poverty.

This is mainly the case in countries such as Romania and Moldova, where the refugees arriving in the territory require a sustained response that must be, in turn, complex and comprehensive.

For the director of the NGO World Vision, Javier Ruiz, this is one of the new challenges faced by organizations on the ground in the face of a "chronification of the conflict". "A country like Moldova has a high level of poverty (...) and this makes it very difficult for families to continue helping others if we don't support them," he warned in statements to Europa Press.

"Since the beginning of the conflict, we have launched a multi-country response that we are adapting according to needs, but if the crisis continues, we will have to be able to adapt and integrate all refugee families into the education, health, and protection systems. children (...) and this is going to require the coordinated effort of all the actors involved in order to help them", he asserted.

Thus, he specified that if the number of refugees remaining in Moldova reaches 200,000, "we would be talking about an increase of 10 percent in the population of a country that already has few resources."

Ruiz, who is in Bucharest, the capital of Romania, has assured that the role of governments and the international community is "fundamental". "On the one hand, it is key for coordination between UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and all the actors involved in the response and, on the other hand, governments are promoting the creation of alliances," he said. the.

In this sense, he pointed out that although the Romanian Romexpo stadium has been ceded by the Government to welcome refugees from Ukraine, it is the NGOs that continue to provide food, hygiene and health kits and the Internet, among other issues.

For this reason, he stressed the importance of the international community "redoubling efforts for dialogue and peacebuilding, complying with International Law, keeping borders open and creating additional budgets" to deal with the crisis.

"No civilian should be the target of attacks and they must be protected," he insisted before explaining that the budgets should be "additional" because "in no case should they be derived from funds earmarked for pre-existing crises and conflicts in the world."

Currently, the possibility that refugee families try to return to their country is "very real", as he explained, given that there is a "fundamental desire to return to their homes as soon as possible and reunite with their families".

"We have already begun to see that there are many families who try to return when they see the slightest possibility of returning. This risk is very real," he lamented, while recalling that half of the refugees are children, who suffer "devastating consequences "As a result of this conflict.

Ruiz stressed that "there are hundreds of dead children" while another 5.7 million "have seen their education interrupted and have suffered psychological damage that will accompany them throughout their lives." "Thousands have had to leave their homes and move to neighboring countries or internally displaced," she added.

"Child protection is another fundamental factor. As many unaccompanied minors or minors arrive with their mothers, the risk of abuse, exploitation and trafficking is really increasing," he assured, although he explained that many of them try to follow what remains academic year via 'online'.

However, he maintained, "the risks for the refugees are very serious as the situation continues and the conflict becomes more chronic", so "the countries must respond to integrate them into the education and health system". "This will make host families and communities unable to hold out any longer," she concluded.