Moldova: Update to Response to Information Request MDA12180
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 July 1993 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | MDA14568 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Moldova: Update to Response to Information Request MDA12180, 1 July 1993, MDA14568, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab0a38.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
According to several sources, the residence permit system (propiska) is still in effect in Moldova (Professor of History, York University 2 Apr. 1993, 17; Journalist specializing in Moldova 5 May 1993; Helsinki Commission Jan. 1993, 91). According to the journalist, who is based in Boston and has travelled to Moldova on a number of occasions recently, the Ministry of Internal Affairs issues a propiska stamp which appears in the internal passport of the holder. Anyone moving from one part of Moldova to another must state their reasons for moving and must obtain "written permission" from the owner of the apartment in which he or she will stay, as well as from all other adult relatives living in the apartment. The journalist further indicated that displaced persons from the Dniester region can obtain a residence permit when they stay with relatives, in dormitories or in government-supplied accommodation in hotels (Ibid.). Authorities in the self-proclaimed Dniester Moldovan Republic (DMR) are currently implementing their own propiska system (Ibid.). The journalist also indicated that in practice the residence permit system has become increasingly irrelevant outside the DMR and is not enforced (Ibid.). The professor of history at York University adds that he has heard of reports that one can obtain a propiska in Moldova for a relatively small bribe (2 Apr. 1993). Despite this, however, there are still significant problems associated with finding an apartment or other residence in a country where housing is in short supply (Ibid.). A correspondent at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) agrees that there is a chronic housing shortage in the right bank (4 June 1993).
Additional or corroborative information on the above subject is currently unavailable to the DIRB.
References
Correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), Munich. 4 June 1993. Telephone interview.
Helsinki Commission (Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe), Washington DC. January 1993. Human Rights and Democratization in the Newly Independent States of the Former Soviet Union.
Journalist and specialist on Moldova. 5 May 1993. Information package faxed to DIRB in response to written questions.
Professor of History, York University, Toronto. 2 April 1993. Presentation given to IRB eastern Europe team in Toronto. (Written transcript)
Attachment
Helsinki Commission (Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe), Washington DC. January 1993. Human Rights and Democratization in the Newly Independent States of the Former Soviet Union, p. 91.
