By CHISINAU. May 16 (Interfax) – The number of Ukrainian refugees currently present in Moldova has declined to 83,000, according to the latest updates provided by the Moldovan Interior Ministry’s Border Police on Monday.
"In all, there are currently 86,724 foreign citizens in Moldova. More than half of them, 45,698, are minors. The overwhelming majority [of foreigners in Moldova] are citizens of Ukraine – 83,030, but there are also citizens of other countries who have evacuated from Ukraine," the Border Police said.
According to Border Police data, 424,237 people crossed into Moldova between February 24 and May 16. Of them, 329,841 people have subsequently left Moldova. Among the Ukrainian refugees who have left Moldova, 266,961 have crossed into Romania, and 62,880 have returned to Ukraine.
The Migration and Asylum Bureau of the Moldovan Interior Ministry received 7,432 asylum applications between February 24 and May 16.
A total of 43,076 people entered Moldova in the past 24 hours, and 22,219 of them have already left the country. Foreign citizens (22,919) accounted for more than half of the people who entered Moldova in the past day. A total of 7,559 Ukrainians crossed into Moldova in the past day.
The refugee flow from Ukraine into Moldova has declined since mid-March, the situation at the border crossings has normalized and there are no queues on the border, Moldovan border guards said.
