Visa-free regime makes MPs consider bill for IDPs

November 3, the Parliament of Ukraine will consider the bill No.2166, which should strengthen the guarantees of observance of the rights of the IDPs.

According to expert of the Charity Foundation “Right to Protection” Olena Vynohradova, the document should adapt the Fundamental Law of Ukraine to the UN guidelines on internal displacement.

Head of the Ukraine’s Parliament committee on human rights Hryhoriy Nemyria said that the bill had not been the priority for the government, because it was not linked with the package of reforms. The MP supposed that the bill was put on the agenda because of the prospects for visa-free regime for Ukrainians.

“The decision to grant visa-free travel is not a technical solution, but a political one. This decision will be made not by the European Commission, but by the governments of the EU member states as a political decision in this case. Could the situation with over 1.5 million internally displaced persons in Ukraine be one of the arguments for or against granting visa-free regime for Ukrainians?” Hryhoriy Nemyria noted.

The bill simplifies the number of bureaucratic procedures for the internally displaced persons (IDPs). For example, it makes it impossible to stop paying all social benefits due to the expiry of an IDP certificate.

Moreover, the document facilitates the implementation of employment relations, registration of place of residence of an IDP, restoration of lost documents, strengthening the protection of personal data.

“A person has left his or her place of residence, but has not completed the employment relations. Such a person does not have a work record card, but wants to get a job in the government-controlled territory. Or such a person may want to be registered at the employment center. Currently, we lack the normal procedure for IDPs,” coordinator of the Charity Foundation “Vostok-SOS” (“East-SOS”) Oleksandra Dvoretska explained.

According to her, the implementation of the law does not require much money from the state budget.

“The bill provides for settling of the technical problems by the Social Policy Ministry of Ukraine. For example, it will stipulate what columns will appear in the application and certificate of an internally displaced person. If the bill is passed, there will be no need to wait for the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers to add one column to it,” Oleksandra Dvoretska said.

MPs of Ukraine Hryhoriy Nemyria and Valeriy Patskan called on their colleagues to vote for the bill.