People came to the parliament building with travel bags and posters reading “The Hungry Winter of 2014,” “Having Fled Grads, We Are Now Facing Bureaucrats” and so on. “Since the beginning of March 2014, Ukraine has adopted no regulations addressing the status of internally displaced persons (IDPs). We want the bill on IDPs to be put on the agenda and voted upon on October 14 at least, by this parliament,” protester Ruslana Panukhnyk said. The bill No. 4490-1 was on the agenda on September 16, but has failed to get a hearing so far.
Den covered the bill aiming to regulate the rights of IDPs in the article “There Are Almost 260,000 of Them Already,” published in No. 163 on September 4, 2014. Importantly, the bill makes it easier for IDPs to get a temporary registration. “Currently, about 400,000 people are officially registered as IDPs. We still have no single list of refugees, just various lists in need of reconciliation. IDPs need registration to get help. On the other hand, without such a list, one can register in different places and get help several times,” coordinator of the Donbas SOS NGO Oleksandr Horbatko explained. “International organizations are shocked by the fact that Ukraine has not adopted an IDP law yet. The adoption of such a law would allow international organizations to help our refugees.”
Viacheslav Bondarenko is a former Luhansk resident who fled to Kyiv a few months ago, after spending some time as a prisoner of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic. The man told us: “I will register as an IDP as soon as possible. I have not done it so far because I hoped to be back at home this fall, me and my family. I now understand that returning to Luhansk region at all would be a great success. IDPs have trouble getting shelter, job, and documents. I arrived in Kyiv without a passport myself, they first told me to go back to Luhansk and get documents reissued there, but then they did it in the capital after all. I am all right, my friends have sheltered me, I have found a job in my field of expertise, but I am a happy exception. Many of my friends have had to change a dozen apartments and been forced to return to the Donbas, where their lives are in danger.” The activists stress that many refugees are now living in places unsuited for wintering, such as children’s camps or unheated sanatoriums. Therefore, these people will be left cold and hungry without a law on IDPs.
According to coordinator of the Donbas SOS Maryna Liuta, so far, IDPs may register, get a voucher and try to obtain healthcare services as well as school places for their children with it. “People get free ride from the transit points to certain resettlement areas, and some local help with resettlement is available as well. Still, volunteers have to lend a hand in most situations, including provision of food, clothing, and healthcare. Most IDPs are able-bodied people who have one or two children, and they get no government assistance whatsoever,” Liuta stressed. “The law on IDPs will not rectify the situation immediately, but it will launch the mechanism of employment assistance, social welfare, housing provision and so on.”
