Conditions for Those Not in Detention

Reception Conditions

In spite of the increased need to accommodate asylum seekers and refugees, Ukraine has a limited reception capacity. The one reception center currently functioning-in Odessa-was expanded recently to accommodate 250 people. Delays in the completion of new reception centers have raised concerns.[261]

Ukrainian law and international human rights norms underscore the responsibility of the Ukrainian government to ensure that the basic material needs of asylum seekers are met, particularly since they are prohibited from taking permanent employment. In practice, asylum seekers receive no housing, or social or material support from the Ukrainian authorities. What assistance is provided comes from UNHCR through its implementing partners.

As a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Ukraine has a legal obligation to ensure every child within its jurisdiction the protection and care necessary for his or her well being, without discrimination of any kind.[262] In all actions concerning children, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration. Separated children are placed with families of asylum seekers from the same community, in violation of CRC Article 20.[263] According to the director of ROKADA, an Ukrainian NGO providing social and medical services to asylum seekers, this ad hoc arrangement exposes children to neglect, exploitation and abuse.[264] There is no institutional response to this situation, and identifying a solution to accommodate unaccompanied children is not a priority for Ukrainian authorities.[265]

The Ukrainian government fails to provide for the basic needs of asylum seekers. For example, Article 18 of the Law on Refugees provides for the right to housing- pending the examination of their applications, asylum seekers should be provided with temporary accommodation designated by the Ukrainian authorities.[266] In practice, this is the case only for the small group of asylum seekers accommodated in Odessa. Lack of state housing forces asylum seekers to work illegally in order to be able to pay for accommodation.[267] J., an Iraqi asylum seeker told Human Rights Watch:

We want to work, rent normal apartments and pay taxes. Thirty-forty percent of income goes to paying bribes. I would say to the Ukrainian government: "Provide us documents and allow us to have the same rights with the rest: work, live, not pay police. We don't expect help but at least do not make our life more difficult."[268]

Article 18 of the Law on Refugees states that an asylum seeker shall have the right to medical assistance and social services. In practice, only UNHCR-registered asylum seekers in Kyiv have access to medical treatment, through a hospital established by UNHCR. Those who are not registered with UNHCR or are outside Kyiv have no access to this hospital, and can only hope that NGOs will facilitate their access to local medical institutions where they themselves cannot, absent proper registration.[269]

A parallel system of social support has been designed through NGOs which work as implementing partners for UNHCR Ukraine, but they can assist only a limited number of clients, and only the asylum seekers who are recognized in the RSD procedure conducted by UNHCR independently from Ukrainian migration officials.[270]

Integration for Recognized Refugees

Integration for recognized refugees in Ukraine is limited. Consequently, out of 5,300 persons recognized as refugees by the authorities from 1996 to 2004, only 2,600 are still registered as residing in Ukraine.[271] A human rights lawyer in Lviv told Human Rights Watch, "Refugee means support and not only being given a paper; this is soft refoulement."[272] According to Ibrahim, an Afghan refugee, the refugee status is not helping him in any way: "I have this refugee status but it doesn't mean anything."[273]

On paper, the Law on Refugees grants social and economic rights to recognized refugees similar to those of Ukrainian citizens.[274] The government adopted an integration plan in March 2004.[275] In practice, the integration policy has yet to be implemented and refugees still face many obstacles to the enjoyment of these rights.[276] B., a Chechen granted refugee status, told Human Rights Watch: "It is not even worth speaking about our social situation. In this place you take the word 'refugee' and put it in brackets."[277] UNHCR has identified at least forty-five Ukrainian laws on social security which must be harmonized with the 1951 Convention and the Ukrainian Law on Refugees in order to make these provisions enforceable.[278] Until legal provisions from the different pieces of legislation are correlated, "refugees have rights but cannot use them."[279]

It is extremely difficult for recognized refugees to find work. Most of them are confined to work in markets selling goods, alongside migrants and asylum seekers who work there illegally.