UNHCR presented a report based on the Participatory Assessment 2019
Kyiv, Ukraine – On the World Humanitarian Day, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) presented a report based on the Participatory Assessment conducted by UNHCR Ukraine with refugees, asylum seekers, persons with complementary protection, stateless persons, persons at risk of statelessness, internally displaced and conflict affected persons in Ukraine between February and March 2019.
According to the report, the overarching concerns of participants relate to administrative and bureaucratic obstacles, access to housing and employment. All groups called for assistance from the Government, international organizations, civil society, and local communities, to support their integration in a tolerant and inclusive society.
During the 2019 participatory assessment, UNHCR met with 184 refugees and asylum-seekers, 86 stateless persons or those at risk of statelessness, and 520 IDPs and conflict-affected persons, including men, women, girls and boys, as well as members of the Roma and Crimean Tatar communities and persons with specific needs (e.g., persons with disabilities, persons living with HIV).
“Currently there are about 1,4 million IDPs and under 5000 refugees and asylum-seekers in Ukraine. As humanitarian workers, we must ensure that we give voice to them and that we develop our plans based on thorough assessment of their needs – this was the primary goal of the research. As part of the research, we have provided recommendations to both government and international organizations to improve the current situation, – said Noel Calhoun, Deputy Representative of the UN Refugee Agency.
“The State Migration Service of Ukraine participated for the first time in evaluating needs of refugees and asylum seekers in 2010. The situation then was much worse. But since then many developments were introduced: the refugee status determination procedure has been improved and a new Temporary Accommodation Facilities Centre has been opened in Yagotyn. At the same time, we still face problems with refugees’ integration in Ukraine. To improve this situation we are working with UNHCR to prepare draft legislative amendments in the sphere of integration”, – informed Natalia Naumenko, First Deputy Head of the State Migration Service.
Georgii Tuka, Deputy Minister for the temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons said that: Many problems regarding IDPs remain the same every year. Unfortunately, there is still lack of attention to these issues from the state. For instance, the state is unable to provide heating fuel to vulnerable families along the line of contact; instead this is provided by international organizations. People continue to live in collective centres, but some face eviction, in Zhytomyr. It is a shame that temporary housing programmes are not fully implemented. It is important that central and regional authorities dedicate more attention to the issues mentioned in the report”.
Full text of the report is available following this link: https://bit.ly/2MsGv3F
For additional information please contact Victoria Andrievska, Public Information Officer, UNHCR Ukraine: +380 50 413 8404, [email protected]
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