This week, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ana Revenco, presented the MIA’s activity report for one year of mandate.
The report included the achievements on the public order and security level, the management of the refugee crisis, the Republic of Moldova as part of the European security ecosystem, road traffic safety, the digitalization of MAI services, agreements and partnerships with EU states, the prevention of fires and natural disasters, as well as the protection victims, especially women and children, in the face of violence and abuse.
#MAIuniți in the face of war
We provided protection for more than 400 thousand refugees at the border crossing (520 thousand on 09.08.22). We currently care for 77,853 refugees who remain on our territory, more than half of whom are minors (41,755). We received more than 8,200 asylum applications (73 times more than the annual average, which previously did not exceed 100 applications); We put into operation the BMA Call Center – 24/24 green line 080001527 (free call) and in Ukrainian, to provide all the necessary information to refugees; We set up temporary camps in Palanca and Giurgiulești, 6 temporary centers for managing the flow of foreigners, a temporary train station (set up in just 10 hours); We created green lanes for rapid transit of refugees between Ukraine and Romania (Giurgiulești-Galați, Leușeni-Albita, Cahul-Oancea – by developing the bilateral cooperation point with the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs); We provided smart mobile phone services to inform refugees about more accessible border crossing points, where waiting times were reduced; We resolved in record time the crisis generated by the border blockade of the transport of goods and food (over 10 kilometers of trucks waiting to cross the borders to Romania, up to 4 days of waiting for drivers); We initiated the construction of a new bridge over the Prut (Leova-Bumbăta); We negotiated the agreement regarding the opening of two new international points for crossing the state border with Romania.
#MAINprotect with the EU
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is recognized for its role as a security producer for the European space, forming together with the EU member countries a fortified security belt at the border with the war; The Minister of Internal Affairs represented the Republic of Moldova, a non-EU country, at the EU Council of Justice and Internal Affairs; The “EU HUB for internal security and border management of the Republic of Moldova” was established – an operational mechanism, already operating in Chisinau, which supports cooperation and permanent collaboration between European security, internal affairs and justice agencies including Europol, Frontex , EUBAM, DG Home, DG Near, the EU member states and the authorities of the Republic of Moldova, to ensure internal security and border management of the extended EU space, which now also includes the Republic of Moldova; The Agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union was signed, regarding the activities carried out by the European Border Police and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) in the Republic of Moldova, which allow joint missions at the border points of the Republic of Moldova with the Border Police.
#MAIcredible in front of partners
The dialogue with traditional partners, abandoned by the former governments, was relaunched. Thus, for the first time, the Strategic Council regarding the “Together4Home Affairs” policy dialogue was held, where the concept of the “Development Strategy in the field of internal affairs for the years 2022 – 2030” was presented and its anchoring in the existing reality; The MAI and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have signed a memorandum of cooperation on fingerprint identification for criminal justice and counter-terrorism purposes. It provides access to the FBI’s database of nearly 80 million records, findings and data on known or suspected terrorists and transnational criminals. The memorandum will assist investigations, improve law enforcement effectiveness, and promote public safety; The process of implementing an advance passenger information system (API) and the passenger name register (PNR) in Chisinau International Airport has been initiated, with the aim of early identification of terrorism risks, as well as in order to carry out analyzes and data processing of international interest for combating various types of crimes, security (with the support of the UN Office for Combating Terrorism); We currently manage 73 programs and projects of both financial and technical assistance, of which 18 are at various stages of negotiation and approval. The external assistance provided to the MAI includes areas such as: management of urgent situations, integrated management of the border, ensuring public order and security; 7 international treaties are signed and/or approved, letters of intent referring to: 1. Expansion of Japanese economic cooperation (grant agreement); 2. The automatic exchange of DNA data, dactyloscopic data and vehicle registration data between the parties to the Convention on Police Cooperation in South-Eastern Europe; 3. Recognition and conversion of driving licenses with Italy, Turkey, Germany, Lithuania; 4. Cooperation against crime with Albania, Azerbaijan and Lithuania; 5. The agreement with FRONTEX, which allowed the delegation of Frontex experts to the field in support of the Border Police; 6. Letter of Intent between the Ministry of the Interior of the French Republic and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova regarding the strengthening of bilateral cooperation in the field of internal security.
#SAFER on the streets, in the community and in road traffic
100% rape, robbery and murder detection rate; 231 criminal groups consisting of 2 or more people were annihilated; More than 62,000 checks were carried out at the homes of gun owners and, as a result of the detected violations, 702 procedures were submitted to withdraw the special right, temporarily or permanently, to irresponsible owners; Maintaining the balance of public order, by certifying an insignificant increase in the number of registered crimes, in the context of the 4% increase in the number of foreign persons in the territory of the Republic of Moldova; 284 Community Safety Councils were organized in over 280 villages. One third of the identified problems related to public order, privacy, public roads, substance use or property rights have already been resolved; Over 2.5 million citizens protected during public events, manifested peacefully, without safety incidents; 23 new video cameras were installed for traffic monitoring; The patrol crews were oriented according to a new algorithm on the routes, which implies more intense and diversified monitoring; Over 6 thousand tragedies prevented by removing drunk drivers from the wheel; 5% decrease in the number of road accidents; Harsher contraventions for speeding (41% of all detected contraventions are for speeding); Adjusting the mechanism for detecting contraventions through the road traffic video monitoring system.
#MORE protected from violence and abuse
Over 2,800 direct victims of domestic violence and over 3,000 children, collateral victims of the phenomenon, were secured by issuing emergency restraining orders; More than 400 children who were in situations of home abandonment, risk of victimization or committing crimes were secured; The Republic of Moldova ratified the Istanbul Convention and undertook to provide services for the protection of victims and their children and to create complex monitoring, control, prevention and cooperation mechanisms to reduce acts of violence against them; The development of the specialized Family Justice Center service, which will ensure the immediate access of victims of violence to urgent and specialized services in a single office. This headquarters is expected to be completed in no more than ten months and will be under the General Inspectorate of Police (IGP); The MAI leads the Commission for examination and monitoring of cases resulting in death and serious bodily injury (femicide commission). This represents an intersectoral mechanism for monitoring and analyzing cases of family violence, resulting in death or serious bodily injury of the victims; The specialized Commission was established to monitor and coordinate the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention for the protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse (Lanzarote Convention), especially through information technology; A legislative project is being worked on to oblige mobile phone and internet providers to block content that represents sexual abuse of children, store the data and report it to institutions empowered to investigate such cases.
#MAIprotect from disasters and fires
Firefighters and rescuers respond faster to emergency situations, and response time has decreased by 1.5 minutes, now averaging 18 minutes and 41 seconds across the country; The first volunteer fire station was opened in Pîrlița, which serves 20 thousand citizens from 18 villages of the Ungheni district; Rescuers and firefighters units from Cantemir and Anenii Noi districts were put into operation; The Agreement was signed with the Government of Japan for the purchase of 19 special vehicles for the intervention; 3 guidance guides for citizens were developed and distributed for information, so that they can deal with risk situations (nuclear or chemical attacks, rescue from drowning); The joint project between the Republic of Moldova and Romania “Effective joint response in cross-border emergency situations” was launched, as a result of which 2 dispatchers will be built and equipped with information technology and communications in Balti and Iași municipalities.
#MAYrecognized in the world
Participation in the international disaster rescue mission of the inhabitants of Greece, by extinguishing massive fires; The participation of our paramedics in missions in Romania, by saving the lives of Romanians affected by COVID-19; Collaboration with Romania within the SMURD-2 project.
#MAYaccessible through digitization
The services for obtaining all types of criminal records are accessible both online and through payment terminals, but also for payment through the government MPay payment service; The Concept of the “Body Camera” portable video surveillance informational system and the Regulation regarding its organization and operation was approved, for the protection of the legitimate rights of citizens and in order to increase the integrity of MAI employees; Permits to be in the border area can be obtained and checked online; Scheduling for the services of the Migration and Asylum Office can be done online; Expansion of the road traffic surveillance system, by installing 23 new video cameras for traffic monitoring; Carrying out the first steps of integration of the services of issuing records with the governmental delivery service MDelivery, so that citizens located both in the territory of the Republic of Moldova and abroad, will be able to request the issuance of records directly at home; Easier obtaining the right to drive, by reducing the number of necessary documents, the costs and the duration of the service of issuing the driver’s license; The exclusion of the mandatory possession, in national traffic, of a driver’s license on physical support, the right to drive vehicles being verified in the automated information system “State Register of Vehicle Drivers”; Carrying out steps to implement the mechanism for implementing the Law on State Dactyloscopic Registration, in the department of dactyloscopy of drivers, thus improving the methods of searching, establishing and confirming the identity of citizens of the Republic of Moldova and foreigners who have disappeared without a trace.
#MAYclose to veterans
The process of issuing new-type identification cards for participants in the war on the Dniester has been simplified; Displacement of the interministerial commission (MAI and MA) in the territory, in order to facilitate and streamline the process of issuing new type IDs for veterans; All war veterans benefited, in May, from a single allowance in the amount of 2,500 lei, including the monthly allowance in the amount of 750 lei; Conducting 4 recreational activities for veterans; Initiation of the amendment procedure of GD no. 781/2022, in order to award the “Golden Eagle” medal to all war veterans.
#MAYaware of employees
The quality of MAI experts’ services will be improved by implementing the recommendations from the roadmap made by the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL); A set of recommendations for the de-bureaucratization of the internal affairs system, the creation of the MAI development strategy and the optimization of some processes within the subdivisions by the Center for the Governance of the Security Sector in Geneva (DCAF) were developed; 13,749 employees were granted increased compensation for work performed under conditions of increased health risk during the state of emergency; The medical scale was revised upon the passing of the medical commission, in order to maintain the professional employees in the system and eliminate the discriminatory factors for employment in positions with special status within the MAI; More than 5,000 employees benefit from the increase for night work; About 2,640 employees benefit from housing rental allowance. At the same time, 101 MAI employees benefit from work housing space; Civil servants with special status/military have the right to travel for free throughout the country, in all types of urban, suburban and interurban public transport; The Cooperation Plan was signed between the MIA of Romania and the MIA of the Republic of Moldova in the field of staff training for 2022. Based on the Protocol, 17 training modules are planned with the participation of over 120 MIA employees from the Republic of Moldova; 461 employees of the MAI (186 officers and 375 non-commissioned officers) participated in the specialization/improvement courses within the “Ștefan cel Mare” Academy of the MAI, carried out based on the training requirements; 100 employees of the MAI participated in training courses in the field of preventing and countering human trafficking, organized with the selection of UNICEF; 60 employees of the MAI participated in the training courses in the field of combating human trafficking and crimes related to sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, organized under the auspices of the OIPC INTERPOL, with the participation of experts from the “Soteria” Project, jointly with the International Center for Missing Children and exploited (ICMEC) and the International Center “La Strada”; New internship models were created for the students of the “Ștefan cel Mare” Academy.
#MAYdemanding to the integrity of employees
67 criminal cases were initiated (in the similar period of 2021 – 55). From the total number of criminal cases instrumented by the SPIA of the MAI, 67 criminal cases are at the stage of criminal investigation and 11 criminal cases have been sent to court; The SPIA of the MAI supported the investigation of 32 criminal prosecution cases on cases under the management of the General Prosecutor’s Office, PCCOCS, the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, the Chisinau City Prosecutor’s Office, the Main Office and other territorial prosecutor’s offices; 42 service investigations were initiated, following which 4 sanctioning orders were issued, through which disciplinary sanctions were applied to 7 civil servants with special status within the MAI; Institutional integrity filters were applied, during which 924 employees were checked. As a result of the checks carried out, the refusal was submitted regarding the career development of 5 public employees with special status. The management of the specialized anti-corruption line number 1520 of the MAI was ensured, receiving 370 calls, of which only 21 referred to the commission of alleged acts of corruption, 101 about other illegalities and 185 calls were informative.
