'There is no ground for xenophobia', the expert spoke about Ukrainian refugees in Moldova

18.05.2022, 19:58 socportal.info

Alexander Makukhin , Doctor of Political Science, migration specialist and managing administrator of the dopomoga.gov.md project, told Social Portal about this. Moldova is a polyethnic country. We have a very large distribution of different languages and nationalities. It removes a significant part of the problems that government officials speak the same language that refugees also speak. Many things are related to the basic structure of behavior. With Ukrainian refugees, we have plus or minus the same form of behavior. There is also one religion - Orthodoxy. People do not differ much - Ukrainian refugees from the inhabitants of Moldova. Until you talk to a person, you will not know if he is a refugee or not, the expert says. According to him, there is no ground for xenophobia. There was a story when they tried to spin the topic that refugees from Ukraine were behaving incorrectly and oppressing the local population. But this topic was quickly suppressed on the social agenda, as this is not true. Moldovan society quickly said: these are people who are no different from us. And this story about “they are no different from us”, it works both ways - Ukrainians do not want to leave Moldova, because they understand that they are the same as the locals, unlike the situation, for example, in Germany, - says Alexander . There are schools in Moldova where, among other things, the Ukrainian language and the history of Ukraine are taught. Moldavian calm multi-ethnicity is based on the ability of the Moldavian society to agree on any issues. Moldovans are used to the fact that people with a different language and culture can live around them, the expert explains. According to him, in 30 years the Moldovan society has come a long way and has come to accept the fact that we are all different. And paradoxically, the war in Ukraine has made the society here even more understanding.