During the monitoring period, no violations of the right to seek asylum at land BCPs were
identified. Such cases have been identified at the BCP "Chisinau International Airport", such
as: ignoring asylum applications; failure to provide access to the asylum procedure;
immediate return to the country of origin or take-off; detention on the territory of the airport
for a long period; failure to inform the BMA of the arrival of applicants for protection or late
information on this fact, etc.:
Case no.1
Two Pakistani citizens arrived in Chisinau and returned from Italy. For 4 days they were placed in the transit room of
Chisinau International Airport. There, they slept on chairs, having no access to minimum conditions. Both applied for
asylum, but were ignored by the border police. After several attempts, the GIBP admitted the entry of foreigners into
the country.
Case no.2
In June 2018, a young woman landed at Chisinau International Airport. She was agitated and scared. She told police
that she had been raped in her home country and that she was in danger of being killed if she returned. The young
woman was constantly seeking asylum. During the talks, she was hurt. The airport called the emergency service. The
gynaecologists confirmed that the young woman was pregnant, but she was at risk of abortion and acute pancreatitis.
The young woman was given medication and injections. She was later transported back to the airport. The border
policeman who accompanied the young woman, asked the doctors to speed up the procedures, in order to succeed in the
procedure of returning to Turkey in a few hours. The BMA was not notified by the Border Police of the existence of an
asylum application.
Case no.3
On the evening of November 7, 2018, a couple from Afghanistan landed on the territory of Chisinau International
Airport. They did not know a language of international circulation, but they managed to mention "refugee" on a page.
Those arguments were not sufficient for border police employees to make a decision to grant protection. Instead, they
left them in the barren area until morning. Later in the morning, the couple was returned to Istanbul, without any
decision in this regard. For several hours, people were kept in the condition of the sterile area, without commodities
and without informing the BMA.
In 2018, 11 people applied for asylum at the border, of which 6 people applied for asylum at the
BCP "Chisinau International Airport". And between January 1, 2019 and September 1, 2019, 8
people applied for asylum at the border, of which 4 people applied for asylum at the BCP "Chisinau
International Airport".
Most respondents stated that they avoided seeking protection from joint BCPs on the border with
Ukraine on the grounds of insecurity. It seems that the exercise of joint border control is to the
detriment of asylum seekers coming from the Ukrainian state. This omission should be minimized
so that the beneficiaries of protection feel safe when crossing the common border.
Excerpt from the interview:
We do not feel protected by the Republic of Moldova since we observe Ukrainian officers on the same crossing point.
We are afraid of the involvement of the Ukrainian authorities in the asylum application process from the Moldovan
border authorities.
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