On October 30, 2020 in Chernihiv, Ukraine, Right to Protection CF held a workshop «Common action of public authorities, legal aid centers and the public sector in support of asylum seekers in Ukraine»

Event was attended by the representatives of the State Migration Service of Ukraine and the Department of the State Migration Service in Chernihiv Oblast, the State Border Guard Service, the Chernihiv City Center for Free Secondary Legal Aid, the Regional Center for Free Secondary Legal Aid in the Chernihiv Region, the Chernihiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, and the Chernihiv Temporary Holding Facility as well as the Ripky District Court of Chernihiv Region.

During the Discussion such issues were spoken out:

• Peculiarities of interaction of public authorities with the secondary free legal aid centers and human rights organizations in cases for asylum seekers, which are located in temporary holding facilities for foreigners during the quarantine operation;
• difficulties for governmental institutions in the process of processing the cases of asylum seekers;
• The ways to solve the existing problems.

The seminar was held in a mixed format – most participants were physically present on the event, some joined through the use of videoconferencing tools, which became a new and interesting practice for participants. They were actively involved in the discussion.

According to Oleksandra Lukyanenko, a lawyer at Right to Protection CF, such meetings are a very important tool for establishing joint action with public authorities, free legal aid centers and human rights organizations in our common sphere of providing aid to the asylum seekers in Ukraine.

Project Manager, Lawyer at R2P Oleksandra Zhurko noted that such workshops are useful as they provide an opportunity to meet directly with all parties, as everyone are able to get answers to their questions in the shortest time possible.