Charitable Fund “Right to Protection” (R2P) Proposals to the draft Law on Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses for improving the Migration legislation

31.03.21

To the Committee

of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

on the law enforcement activities

Mykhaila Hrushevskoho Street, 5,

Kyiv, 01008

[email protected]

Ex. № 134

from 05.03.2021

Proposals of the CF “Right to Protection” (R2P) to the draft Law on Amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses for improving the Migration legislation

Introduction

On November 20, 2020 a Draft Law on the Amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses to Improve Migration Legislation was submitted by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The Charitable Fund “Right to Protection” (R2P) draws the attention of the subject of the legislative initiative and legislators to the fact that the provisions of this bill affect the situation of asylum seekers in Ukraine, and therefore considers it necessary to provide an analysis of the bill in this regard.

The essence of the bill

The draft law was developed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in order to prevent and counteract illegal migration in Ukraine, ensure state security and approximate Ukrainian legislation to international standards.

It provides for the improvement of the norms of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses, which establishes the liability for violations of migration legislation.

Thus, in particular, Article 203 of the Code of Administrative Offenses is proposed in eight parts, each of which provides for different sanctions.

Regarding the imposition of an administrative penalty on asylum seekers

According to the draft Law, Part 2 of Art. 203 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine provides for liability for stay in Ukraine without a certificate of application for protection in Ukraine in the form of a fine of one hundred to two hundred non-taxable minimum incomes (i.e., from 1700 to 3400 hryvnias).

Thus, for the first time, the project singles out a special subject of the offense – a protection seeker (person who applied for protection in Ukraine).

The procedure for applying for protection and the legal status of asylum seekers in Ukraine is regulated by the Law of Ukraine “On Refugees and Persons in Need of Additional or Temporary Protection”.

The same law stipulates that a certificate of application for protection in Ukraine is a document certifying the legality of a person’s stay on the territory of Ukraine for the period from the moment a person applies for refugee or a person in need of additional protection until the final determination of such person’s status or until leaving the territory of Ukraine. The certificate of application for protection is not an identity document.

The treatment of refugees staying illegally in the country is regulated by Article 31 of the 1951 Refugee Convention. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), referring to this article, states that the measures taken by the state in these cases should be proportionate to the legitimate aim and applied on an individual case-by-case basis.

As stated in the Strategy of State Migration Policy of Ukraine for the period up to 2025, the policy on asylum seekers should take into account the “humanitarian component, which provides for the sympathy of government officials and other stakeholders, as well as the society.“

Persons whose legality of stay in Ukraine is certified by an application for protection, usually do not speak Ukrainian, do not have legal means of self-sufficiency, are not familiar with the requirements of Ukrainian legislation on the rules of stay in Ukraine and, accordingly, need a significant period of time to integrate into the Ukrainian society. These features must be taken into account as effectiveness of legal influence on above mentioned persons is dependent on it.

One of the alternative sanctions under Art. 203 of the draft is that the initiator of the bill provides a warning. The warning in fact combines a formal condemnation of a person’s illegal behavior (an administrative offense with a minor degree of social harm) and informing the person about the inadmissibility of such behavior in the future.

Given the above, such a reaction of the state to the violation committed by the seeker of protection is optimal and proportionate to the legitimate aim in the context of further integration of this person into Ukrainian society.

Regarding the access to the Stateless Determination Procedure

On June 16, 2020, the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning Recognition as a Stateless Person” was adopted, which provides for the procedure for recognition as a stateless person in Ukraine.

According to the second paragraph of the second part of Article 4 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons” a person who cannot obtain a passport document due to not being considered a citizen by any state has the right to apply to the State Migration Service for recognition as a stateless person, regardless of the legality or illegality of his stay in Ukraine.

The guidance of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the protection of stateless persons, noted in paragraphs 68-69, suggests that the states which introduce the Stateless Determination Procedure must ensure the actual access of such persons to the procedure for the purpose of its efficiency and fairness.

It is emphasized that access to the procedure for recognition as a stateless person should be provided for every person. Achieving this goal is impossible if an undocumented person who meets the criteria of a stateless person and intends to apply for recognition as a stateless person is afraid of administrative liability for violation of the order of stay in Ukraine.

It should be noted that persons with uncertain citizenship, who apply for legal aid to the Charitable Fund “Right to Protection” (R2P) in order to obtain citizenship and obtain a passport, report to be held administratively liable under Article 203 of the Code.

In the practice of European countries, such as France, Moldova, Switzerland, Spain, Bulgaria, there are no fines / fees for applicants for recognition as a stateless person.

Suggestions

In order to bring Article 203 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of Ukraine in accordance with the provisions of Articles 4 and 6-1 of the Law of Ukraine “On Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons” we consider it necessary to supplement part three of Article 203 of the Code, providing that this article does not apply in cases of absence of the specified documents at the person who addresses in the established order with the statement on recognition as the stateless person at the moment of the address.

In order to ensure the effectiveness of legal influence on asylum seekers, taking into account the humanitarian component, we consider it necessary to supplement the second part of Article 203 of the Code with an alternative sanction – a warning.

A Comparative table with the proposals of the Charitable Fund “Right to Protection” (R2P) is attached.

With Regards,

President

of the Charitable Fund “Right to Protection”(R2P)

Oleksandr Galkin

30.03.21

On Wednesday, March 24, the National Human Rights Strategy was approved by the Decree of the President of Ukraine of March 24, 2021 № 119/2021 and entered into force on this same day.

This is a strategic document, the main purpose of which is to ensure and support the human rights and freedoms of the citizens of Ukraine. This goal should be achieved, in particular, by solving the main systemic problems through supporting and protecting human rights and freedoms in the face of new challenges. The document was approved to replace the previous Strategy, which lost its relevance together with the completion of the Action Plan at the end of last year. The goals set by the Strategy should be achieved by implementing specific steps approved by the Action Plan, which will be adopted every three years.

The human rights strategy was prepared in coordination with the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine with the involvement of the civil society sector in 2020. The participation of national and international organizations, activists, experts and scholars in the process of developing the Strategy is extremely important due to the possibility of a constructive dialogue between the Government on the one hand and the public on the other.

The new Human Rights Strategy does not bypass the problem of statelessness in Ukraine. In particular, in the context of creating a new procedure for recognition as a stateless person of Ukraine, it sets tasks and raises appropriate expectations:

to ensure the possibility of realization of the right to work, healthcare and social protection to those who have applied for the recognition as stateless persons;
to ensure access to the mechanism of recognition as a stateless person, regardless of the fact of a person’s stay in Ukraine on the legal grounds.

In order for the population of the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) to retain the citizenship of Ukraine:

to ensure the issuance of identity documents and proof of citizenship of persons residing in the TOT, in the manner prescribed by law at the place of application;
to develop and implement a single out-of-court mechanism for confirmation and state registration of civil status acts of citizens residing in the TOT.

Thus, a common understanding of the ways to solve the problem of statelessness in Ukraine and avoid the threat of statelessness for TOT residents is present in the Strategy. This is definitely a positive result of the work of the civil sector. The next step is to approve the Action Plan, which will determine the exact actions of the authorities and other actors, the use of which will lead or bring us closer to achieving these goals.

At the same time, the central executive bodies refuse to plan in the measures to identify undocumented persons, even in certain regions of the country. These measures are prescribed into the draft from the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine «On approval of the Action Plan for the implementation of the National Strategy for Human Rights for 2021-2023». The implementation of these measures was planned by the previous Action Plan for 2016 (!), But in the absence of a Stateless Determination Procedure (SDP) in Ukraine as such and were considered inappropriate at the moment.

The position of the authorities seems to be so much inconsistent that the State Migration Service of Ukraine plans to carry out explanatory work on the requirements of the legislation regarding the new Stateless Determination Procedure which will enter into the force with the Cabinet of Ministers resolution «On some issues regarding the recognition as a stateless person».

«Active actions on the part of the Government concerning documenting the stateless persons, as well as encouraging the documentation of other persons that do not have identity documents, properly informing the public about current procedures and administrative services regarding this issue should be carried out independently of plans and strategies, especially when implementing the Stateless Determination Procedure. It is impossible for Ukraine to fulfill obligations under the 1954 Convention concerning the Status of Stateless Persons if stateless persons are itself not identified within a country.»
– said Ksenia Karahiaur, Legal Analyst at Right to Protection (R2P).

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25.03.21

On March 19 and 24, 2021, the Right to Protection (R2P) held webinars on the Protection Mainstreaming for the representatives of public authorities in Ukraine.

The events were joined by the representatives of the Popasna Raion State Administration, Toretsk Civil-Military Administration, Education Departments, Primary Care Centers, Public Information Units, Police Departments and Child Protection Offices.

Webinars: «Practice of application of the international standards in civil protection: problems and opportunities» Вебінари «Практика застосування міжнародних стандартів у цивільному захисті: проблеми та можливості»

During the webinars best practices, positive experiences, as well as the existing challenges and issues in the field of public protection were discussed.

In particular, participants of the online events had the opportunity to learn about:

How to be better prepared for emergencies?
How to ensure protection for the most vulnerable groups?
How to organize efficient interaction between different agencies in a crisis context?

Webinars were held within the framework of «Reducing Risk Vulnerability in Eastern Ukraine» Project which is funded by USAID (in particular, by its Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, BHA), and has been implemented since 2019 by 3P Consortium led by ACTED.

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25.03.21

On March 17, the Kharkiv office of the Right to Protection (R2P) organized an online webinar to discuss problematic issues in working with the «Social Hromada» system.

The event was joined by the representatives of the amalgamated territorial communities (hromadas), Administrative Service Centers (ASC) and the Department of Labor and Social Protection in the Kharkiv region.

During the webinar, officials who have been working with the program for a long time and those who have just joined were given the opportunity to share their experiences and advice.

What is a «Social Hromada»?

The information system «Social Hromada» is a client-server WEB-application, which is designed to bring administrative social services to the residents of the amalgamated territorial communities.

Advantages of the «Social Hromada» program for officials who work in amalgamated communities:

Professionals can process information and provide administrative services much faster. This makes a great workflow optimization – information can be processed by only one employee. Without using the «Social Hromada» same amount of work requires multiple employees to handle one particular task;
Head of the territorial community and specialists of the social protection service can monitor the processing of applications and carry out a quick search for any required data. This is possible due to the presence of an electronic “log of appeals”.

Advantages of the «Social Hromada» program for the population:

No need to go, for example, to a remote district center in order to receive social administrative services;
Possibility to track the status of applications online after contacting the “front” office.

Right to Protection (R2P) expresses special gratitude to the speakers of the webinar: Tetyana Shevchenko, head of the department of social protection of the executive committee of Bilozirka village council; Nonna Turlo, Head of the Department of Automated Documentation Processing and Social Monitoring of the Department of Social Protection of the Chuhuiv District State Administration; Maryna Torbina, a specialist in the social protection department of the Merefa City Council.

R2P actively cooperates with the united territorial communities in order to ensure the protection of the rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

UNHCR Ukraine

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25.03.21

On 11 March 2021, at their 1398th DH meeting, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (Committee) adopted a new decision on Ukraine’s progress in solving the systemic problem of non-enforcement or delayed enforcement of domestic judgments given against the State. In their decision, the Committee exhorted the Ukrainian authorities to take resolute action to resolve the long-standing problem, paying attention to the changes to the 2021 State Budget, which has only distanced Ukraine from comprehensively solving the issue.

In particular, in 2021, expenditures to finance the State Budget Programme 3504040 ‘Measures for the Enforcement of Judicial Decisions Guaranteed by the State’ have been reduced sixfold compared to 2020, making it impossible for the State to pay its debts under thousands of unenforced domestic judgments. In January 2021, within the communication to the Committee of the state of execution by Ukraine of the ECtHR judgments on the matter, strategic lawyers of CF ‘Right to Protection’ submitted observations with the Committee, emphasizing the critical lack of funding to fully cover the expenditures for enforcement of domestic judgments, including those concerning the payment of pension arrears to IDPs and residents of the temporarily occupied territories.

According to the response of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the Government noted the interest of CF ‘Right to Protection’ to the non-enforcement problem (especially, with regard to judgments on pension payments for IDPs and residents of the temporarily occupied territories, as well as conflict-related losses), stressing that the State is focused on finding a long-lasting solution to this problem, which gives hope for the change of the current state of affairs.

Finally, the Committee deeply deplored the dramatic decrease in funding of the State Budgetary Programme 3504040, adding that it ‘could be seen as an indication of the overall lack of political will to ensure the effectiveness of the system of domestic enforcement of judgments.’

Committee рішення Комітету Міністрів Ради Європи щодо невиконання Україною судових рішень

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22.03.21

On March 16, an online round table «Freedom of movement across the contact line: the problem of fines for violating the special order of entry and exit to and from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine» was held.

The event was held at the level of the Committee on Human Rights, Deoccupation and Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, National Minorities and International Relations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. Members of Parliament, chairmen of committees and subcommittees, representatives of central and local authorities, international and Ukrainian NGOs joined the round table.

Oleh Tarasenko, Senior Strategic Lawyer at Right to Protection CF (R2P) also took part in an online event.

Particularly, Mr. Oleg pointed to the three current problems:

Application of fines for crossing the contact line through uncontrolled areas of the state border of Ukraine: people often have no other way;
Application of fines for exceeding the limit of 50,000 hryvnias for moving the cash to and from the occupied territories: most retirees cross the contact line only once in every two to six months to withdraw cash, and the amount of funds in this case may exceed the following limit;
Protocols on administrative violations are drawn by the SBGS officers with significant errors: lack of necessary signatures of the person who is being fined, non-issuing of a second copy of the protocol to such a person, etc.

«We believe that such restrictions, at least for the quarantine period, should be reduced. According to Ms. Noel Calhoun, there are many ways to do this. We should not forget that the Supreme Court of Ukraine has ruled in such cases that the body which brings a person to administrative responsibility cannot focus only on a person pleading guilty. We all understand that a person who has been moving to the state border for a very long time to get to the controlled territory will have no choice but to admit guilt and agree to a fine. But this will not be a voluntary confession. That is why such responsibility must be postponed or abolished.»
– said Oleg Tarasenko during his report.

Recording of a full speech of our colleague is available below. The full video & audio recordings of the round table is also available on the Committee’s website (Both in Ukrainian).

Доповідь Олега Тарасенка під час круглого столу: «Свобода пересування вздовж лінії розмежування»
☝️ Станом на сьогодні, громадяни України, які проживають на тимчасово непідконтрольних територіях зазнають найбільших утисків їхніх прав та свобод. ❌ Представники незаконних збройних формувань постійно блокують роботу більшості пунктів пропуску на сході України. Людям не залишається нічого іншого як перетинати державний кордон у непідконтрольних ділянках на кордоні з РФ. А по в’їзду в Україну на них вже чекає штраф…💵 «Свобода пересування вздовж лінії розмежування: проблема застосування штрафних санкцій за порушення порядку в’їзду на тимчасово окуповану територію України та виїзду з неї» – саме такою була назва теми круглого столу, який відбувся 16 березня у форматі Zoom відеоконференції. 🤝 Захід проведений на рівні Комітету з питань прав людини, деокупації та реінтеграції тимчасово окупованих територій, національних меншин і міжнаціональних відносин Верховної Ради України. До участі долучилися народні депутати, голови комітетів та підкомітетів, представники центральних та місцевих органів влади, міжнародних та українських неурядових організацій. Зокрема, участь у круглому столі від БФ «Право на захист» взяв головний стратегічний юрист Oleg Tarasenko. У своїй доповіді пан Олег зазначив про три наявних наразі проблеми: 🔵 Застосування штрафів за перетин лінії розмежування через непідконтрольні ділянки державного кордону України: у людей часто немає іншого виходу; 🔵 Застосування штрафів за перевищення допустимого ліміту в 50000 гривень на вивезення готівки з та на окуповану територію. Велика частина пенсіонерів перетинають лінію розмежування лише раз на пів року для зняття готівки, а сума коштів у такому випадку може перевищувати зазначений максимум; 🔵 Складання протоколів про адмінпорушення співробітниками ДПСУ з допущенням суттєвих помилок: відсутність необхідних підписів особи, що притягається до відповідальності, невидача другого примірника протоколу такій особі тощо. 💬 «Ми вважаємо, що такі обмеження, принаймні на період карантину, повинні бути зменшені. Як зазначила шановна пані Ноель Калхун, для цього є багато шляхів. Не варто забувати й про те, що Верховний Суд України визначився у подібних справах, що орган, який притягає особу до адміністративної відповідальності не може орієнтуватися на одне лише визнання особою вини. Всі ми розуміємо, що у людини, яка дуже довгий час рухалася до державного кордону, щоб потрапити на підконтрольну територію не буде іншого вибору як визнати провину та погодитися на штраф. Але це не буде добровільним зізнанням. Саме тому, таку відповідальність треба відстрочити або скасувати.» – сказав Олег Тарасенко під час своєї доповіді. 🔗 Пропонуємо Вам переглянути доповідь нашого колеги нижче у відео. Також, Ви можете подивитися повний запис трансляції круглого столу або прослухати аудіозаписом на сайті Комітету: https://cutt.ly/jxtLqOD UNHCR Ukraine – Aгентство ООН у справах біженців в Україні Управління ООН з координації гуманітарних справ / OCHA Ukraine EU Civil Protection & Humanitarian Aid – ECHO ACTED Ukraine People in Need Médicos del Mundo España IMPACT Initiatives HelpAge International HelpAge Ukraine – Представництво HelpAge International в Україні Комітет Верховної Ради України з прав людини Людмила Денісова
Posted by Право на захист on Friday, March 19, 2021

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17.03.21

To the President of Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

APPEAL

Dear Mr. President!

Seven years ago as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, an international armed conflict broke out in Ukraine and continues to this day. Its consequences for our state and citizens are enormous: more than 13 thousand people were killed, about 33 thousand people were injured, more than 1.4 million people were forced to leave their homes and became internally displaced persons, thousands of prisoners and missing persons, more than 55 thousand destroyed residential buildings only in the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine.

The occupation of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol led to the closure of enterprises, reduction of markets, reduction of purchasing and solvency, lower living standards, severance of social and family ties, catastrophic environmental impact and many other negative consequences.

All this requires a response from the Ukrainian authorities and civil society. However, if in 2014 it was necessary to take measures to prevent a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, in particular due to mass internal displacement, in 2021 Ukraine faces other issues in the context of an armed conflict.

One of the most challenging issues today is the lack of a systematic state coordinated policy of Ukraine to overcome the negative consequences of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. The inconsistency of the positions and actions of the Parliament, the Government and the Office of the President of Ukraine carries risks for further deoccupation and reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, causing fear and misunderstanding on the part of the citizens of Ukraine.

An example is the situation with the issue of criminalization of cooperation with the occupying authorities (so-called “collaborationism”). According to the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, given the analysis of historical experience, the concept of “collaborationism” should be abandoned.

At the same time, only in February this year the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine registered three bills (including the deputies of the Servant of the People party), which aim to introduce criminal liability (up to the life imprisonment) for various forms of cooperation of Ukrainian citizens with the occupation authorities or aggressor country. Collaborationism as a concept is harmful because it expands the list of those who are planned to be prosecuted. Such legislative initiatives are aimed at revenge, not at achieving lasting peace and social harmony.

Proposals to criminalize “collaborationism” appear at a time when a number of issues necessary to realize the rights of victims of the conflict need to be resolved at the legislative level. In particular, this week the Verkhovna Rada agenda includes consideration of the draft Law “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning the Implementation of International Criminal and Humanitarian Law” (Reg. №2689) in the second reading, which will allow criminal prosecution for committing international crimes in the context of armed conflict (genocide, aggression, crimes against humanity and war crimes).

The procedure for absentee court proceedings and the terms of pre-trial investigation of crimes committed in the context of armed conflict also need to be standardized. Also, the issues of compensation for the damage caused by an armed conflict, determination of a status of civilian hostages and political prisoners and providing them with social protection, the introduction of mechanisms for the use of information from documents issued in the occupied territories, and other issues remain unresolved.

In addition to the legislative settlement of a number of issues that have arisen due to armed aggression, it is necessary to develop the conceptual foundations of state policy in the field of transitional justice. After all, before talking about the terms of imprisonment for cooperation with the occupier, first of all it is necessary to develop criteria for recognizing a person as a victim of an armed conflict and general approaches to compensation for the damage caused as a result of an armed aggression.

The topic of transitional justice is voluminous and multilevel, and the adoption of point bills, without defining a framework concept, is not only counterproductive but also harmful. Such bills only deepen the problem of inconsistencies at the legal and institutional levels. The first step should be the creation and approval of a comprehensive roadmap (concept) for the transitional justice process, the prioritization of goals and objectives, and the selection of appropriate tools and mechanisms to address the challenges that Ukraine is facing during an armed conflict.

We, the representatives of NGO sector, human rights and dialogue organizations, call on you, Mr. President, as the guarantor of the Constitution of Ukraine, to promote the coherence and consolidation of a state policy to overcome the negative consequences of an armed conflict and introduce a holistic and systemic approach to transitional justice at all levels.

Ukrainian citizens, both in the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine and in the occupied territories, must be assured that all war crimes and crimes against humanity will be properly investigated and those guilty will be punished. All victims of war and occupation need to be provided with an effective compensation mechanism, and the state must start the immediate implementation of this mechanism. The victims need justice today.

ZMINA Human Rights Center

Vostok SOS Charitable Foundation

Eastern Ukrainian Center for Civic Initiatives

NGO “Public holding “Group of Influence”

Charity Foundation Stabilization Support Services

Ukrainian Institute for Human Rights

Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research

Kharkiv Institute for Social Research (KhISR)

Centre of Public Initiatives “Ideas for Change” (IfC)

NGO “Donbass SOS”

NGO “CrimeaSOS”

The Crimean Human Rights Group

CCE “Almenda”

Charitable Fund “Right to Protection”

17.03.21

The Interdepartmental Commission for Establishing the Injury or Other Damage to Health Received from Explosives, Ammunition and Military Weapons on the Territory of the Anti-Terrorist Operation* has been holding its meetings since December 2018.

During this time, despite lots of obstacles and all sorts of incidents, this commission considered 148 applications, made 134 positive decisions and 12 refusals. Some of the applications were postponed due to the missing documents.

The obvious positive moment in terms of the effectiveness of this structure is the presence of the representatives of non-governmental organizations in the commission – those who on a daily basis take care of the issues of people, affected by an armed conflict in the east of Ukraine.

Activists know very well not the factual but the “human” side of the issues. As a member of this commission, I approach the consideration of each case with full responsibility, because I understand that all of this is not about dry facts and stacks of papers, but about the lives and fates of Ukrainians.

I still remember one of the cases. The guardian appealed to the commission in favor of her granddaughter. An excerpt from the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations (an extract) concerning the case stated: “during the shelling the bomb hit the school, citizen XXX was injured, 2 people died.” But then you read and understand that those two dead people were the girl’s mother and her brother…

That is why the documents were submitted by the guardian. And at this moment you feel like you’re among the ruins of this school…

You realize how many lives and destinies this war has destroyed. The only thing you can do to help them now is to read these documents carefully and fight for each of those who asked for help.

I also remember another meeting of the commission when the application of a couple was considered. It was already clear that they would be refused as it was not possible to establish in which location the injury occurred**.

Following the monitoring of this situation, the media managed to find out that the couple was injured during the evacuation from the village where they lived. Illegal armed groups occupied the village, but gave the opportunity to leave to those who do not want to stay. The couple and several other people got into a car and headed towards the controlled area, but it turned out that this was not a gesture of goodwill, but a trap: the car was mined. An explosion occurred as the car approached the Ukrainian military checkpoint.

I said this during a meeting of the Interdepartmental commission, and after a lively discussion it was decided to provide a positive decision on this matter, as the territory of the military checkpoint although not being included in the list of Government-Controlled Area settlements, is actually controlled by Ukraine.

In fact, a precedent was set in the consideration of the cases and identical cases now receive positive decisions as well. Of course, it would have been great if our citizens did not find themselves in such dangerous and horrible situations, but, unfortunately, occupation and military conflict always goes hand in hand with casualties and losses. It is the duty of the state to provide social protection to the victims of this conflict. This protection is provided today by the Interdepartmental Commission. If you have an injury or disability, received during an armed conflict you surely must submit documents and application to the commission. And we will do our duty – will be fighting for everyone of you!

Anastasia Odintsova

Advocacy Lawyer

Right to Protection CF

List of the documents needed to be collected before an application is available following this link

*The Commission acts on the basis of the resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers № 306 from 04/25/2018 «Some issues concerning the establishment of the connection of a disability with the injuries or other damage to the health»

**There is a discriminatory restriction on the territorial definition of this resolution. Until December 1, 2014 the status is granted if a wound was received in the area of Anti-Terrorist Operation, after December 1, 2014 only if the wound was received in the Government-Controlled Area or near the contact line.

UNHCR Ukraine

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16.03.21

Today R2P presents the report ‘Crossing the contact line’ for February 2021, prepared by the NGO ‘Right to Protection’. The report is based on data collected during the monitoring of the situation on EECPs. More statistical data is available on the Eastern Ukraine Checkpoint Monitoring Online Dashboard: https://www.unhcr.org/ua/en/eecp-monitoring-2021

HIGHLIGHTS:

During the month, crossing the contact line remained possible only through two EECPs: Novotroitske in Donetska Oblast and Stanytsia Luhanska in Luhanska Oblast, at a level considerably below the pre-COVID period. The number of people crossing the contact line increased in February compared to January by 31 percent: 39,497 and 27,480 respectively.
At the end of February, it was still not possible to take free-of-charge rapid COVID-19 tests at Stanytsia Luhanska EECP, despite governmental instructions. PCR tests for COVID-19 could only be done at one’s own expense in three different private laboratories located at the EECP. At Novotroitske EECP, of those who crossed 518 (87%) people took advantage of the opportunity to pass a rapid test for COVID-19.
Visiting relatives remained the main reason for crossing in both directions, including for people crossing into GCA. NGCA residents also crossed EECPs for reasons of cash withdrawal, issues of pension or social payments, and documentation issues. In February 2020, visiting relatives was only the third widespread reason for crossing into GCA, after pension recovery and cash withdrawal.
R2P monitors facilitated 120 requests for crossing from GCA residents through the fast-track procedure. Also, R2P assisted about 800 persons with installing the “Vdoma” app.
During the month of February, 4,483 vulnerable elderly persons were provided with transport support at Stanytsia Luhanska EECP by the NGO “Proliska” e-vehicle.

The report is available in English and in Ukrainian.

The report is based on the results of a survey conducted by R2P at the five EECPs to enter the NGCA and administered on a regular basis since June 2017. The survey is a part of the monitoring of violations of rights of conflict-affected populations within the framework of the project ‘Advocacy, Protection, and Legal Assistance to IDPs’ implemented by R2P, with the support of UNHCR. The purpose of the survey is to explore the reasons and concerns of those traveling from the NGCA to the GCA, as well as conditions and risks associated with crossing the line of contact through EECPs. The information collected in the survey helps identify protection needs, gaps, and trends, and provides an evidentiary basis for advocacy efforts.

Report ‘Crossing the contact line’, February 2021

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