Moldova struggling to find accommodation for constant stream of refugees from Ukraine

Sharing a border with southern Ukraine Moldova, with an estimated population of 2.6 million, saw 383,448 arrivals by March 27

A woman at the International Exhibition Center "Moldexpo" in Moldova's capital Chisinau which has been broken into units to house Ukrainian refugees. Photo by Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images

A queue formed early on Tuesday morning outside a large currency exchange in the capital of Moldova, snaking down the street even before the doors opened with mainly people from Ukraine in the line.

It is just one sign of the large number of refugees arriving in the city of Chisinau since the first day of the Russian invasion.

State flags flew at half-mast on Monday with the minister for foreign affairs declaring this was “a day of national mourning in memory of all those who lost their lives during the past 39 days of the war”.

Sharing a border with southern Ukraine this small country with an estimated population of 2.6 million saw 383,448 arrivals by March 27, according to the latest figures from United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Relief.

A Ukrainian refugee child walks into an improvised playground at the "Moldexpo" exhibition centre. Photo: Daniel Mihailescu / AFP via Getty Images

Many of the supports are offered on the MoldExpo campus, a large exhibition site on the shores of the Valea Morilor lake outside the city centre, similar in style to the CityWest campus in Dublin.

Also like CityWest, this recently had a Covid-19 focus offering overflow medical facilities to under-pressure hospitals. Local media reports indicate by late February they were hoping to return the halls to normal use. Now, however, a coordinator at the centre told the Irish Examiner on Tuesday there were 295 people living there, including 116 children.

This hit 426 within two days of the invasion starting, according to the Government of Moldova website. One exhibition hall, broken into units in a style familiar to anyone vaccinated at a large centre in Ireland, offers hot food, medical aid, clothing and information.

A table with large hot water urns, and some polystyrene food containers stood inside the glass doors, leftovers from the early morning food delivery.

A Ukrainian refugee at the "Moldexpo" exhibition centre, in Chisinau. Photo: Daniel Mihailescu / AFP via Getty Images

Moldovan companies have donated practical items like laptops, washing machines and help with plumbing to ensure hot water is available, the co-ordinator said. Medical help is also available at this building through a mix of international and local aid groups.

“Everyone is helping, we are trying to connect people with the systems,” he said. Their biggest challenge is finding accommodation, with thousands of private homes in the city already filled with refugees.

The problem, he explained, is there might be space but people are struggling to cover the increased fuel costs and food bills from having extra people in their home for so long.

Outside another hall blue and white posters direct arrivals to a cash-aid programme offered by UNHCR, Catholic Relief Service (CRS), Caritas Molodva and Diakonia.

Ukrainian refugee children play in an improvised playground at the "Moldexpo" exhibition centre. Photo: Daniel Mihailescu / AFP via Getty Images

Refugees can apply for this monthly grant of 2,200 Moldovan Lei (€109). A phone number linking to the process is being widely circulated among refugees, and after registering with this number, they get a text with an appointment for receiving a pre-paid card. This can be used in any shop or for cash withdrawal at ATMs.

A constant flow of people, including many with children in buggies, go in and out these doors the morning the Irish Examiner visited, with 657 having accepted the card in just the first few days it was offered.

Many people working there have been on-site for over a month, ready to help but unsure when this will end.