What Ukraine’s migration policy should look like on the path to the EU: Human rights advocates discuss reforms

As part of its bid to join the European Union, Ukraine must align its migration policy with EU standards. The government is currently drafting a new state migration strategy that will need to address a range of challenges related to protecting the rights of foreigners and asylum seekers in Ukraine, particularly in employment and integration.

Photo credit: Center for Civil Liberties

The issue was discussed during the Human Rights Dialogues conference, organised by the Center for Civil Liberties in Kyiv on 27-28 May, 2026, ZMINA reported.

Ukraine’s State Migration Policy Strategy expired in 2025, and work is now underway on its successor. The new strategy, together with its implementation plan, is expected to be approved by the end of 2026, according to Iryna Sushko, executive director of the NGO “Europe Without Barriers”.

“The strategy and its key objectives have been developed jointly with international organisations and EU experts. This is already an encouraging sign that the document will seek to reflect the standards and criteria currently applied in the European Union,” Sushko said.

According to Sushko, one of the central objectives of the new migration strategy in EU integration is to strike a balance between security considerations and the protection of human rights. This concerns not only foreigners but also Ukrainian citizens who are currently under temporary protection abroad.

She outlined several sensitive issues that will shape Ukraine’s migration policy in the coming years and that government institutions, international organisations and experts are now working on. One of the strategy’s objectives concerns security. In this area, the European Union expects Ukraine to establish a mechanism for rapid coordination and response to migration-related risks.

Another objective concerns legal migration. Ukraine will need to harmonise its migration terminology with EU standards and expand opportunities for migrants, particularly labour migrants. This includes ensuring equal treatment for EU citizens and Ukrainian nationals in Ukraine.

For the first time, the strategy also introduces the need to define what constitutes a “country of migration risk”. According to Sushko, experts involved in drafting the strategy insisted on including this concept.

She added that the European Union expects Ukraine to comprehensively reform its visa policy by aligning both its visa and visa-free regimes with the EU’s common lists.

“For example, according to official data, Turkish nationals accounted for the largest number of foreign workers entering Ukraine last year, not Bangladeshis or Indians, who are currently discussed so often,” she said.

“Since Türkiye is subject to a visa requirement for entry into the European Union, it should likewise become subject to a visa regime with Ukraine.”

Another major challenge is the integration of foreigners living in Ukraine. At present, no government authority has a clear mandate for this area. Although integration is addressed in individual measures within the draft action plan, responsibility remains fragmented.

“From a human rights perspective, the biggest gap lies in the lack of coordination between government agencies, including the State Border Guard Service, the State Migration Service, the Security Service of Ukraine, the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Ministry,” Sushko said. “It is essential to establish an effective coordination mechanism so these issues can be addressed in a coherent and consistent manner.”

Many provisions relating to both legal and irregular migration have already been brought into line with European standards, according to feedback from the European Commission, said Sofiia Kordonets, head of the refugee, asylum seeker and stateless persons assistance programme at the Right to Protection Charitable Foundation. However, she noted that many issues remain unresolved, including involving civil society in discussions on migration policy and ensuring the participation of the State Migration Service in public consultations.

“At present, the State Migration Service in Ukraine performs a control function primarily. Its responsibilities include migration control, monitoring migrants and exercising, among other things, enforcement powers,” Kordonets said.

“The European Union’s migration policy, by contrast, places much greater emphasis on integration. This includes language courses, access to employment, and helping people understand our political system, culture and traditions. Ukraine currently lacks this approach,” she elaborated.

She stressed that migration policy should take into account not only foreigners but also refugees and asylum seekers. These are people who came to Ukraine in search of safety and have chosen to remain despite the war.

“There are not many such people in Ukraine, approximately 1,000 to 2,000 according to our experience. Many of them still face difficulties in accessing international protection, even though this procedure is guaranteed under Ukrainian law and by Ukraine’s obligations under international treaties,” Kordonets said.

According to Kordonets, migration policy should also address the needs of Ukrainian citizens, particularly those living in the temporarily occupied territories who are trying to return to government-controlled Ukraine. It should likewise cover the documentation of these citizens, as well as stateless persons who have lived in Ukraine for 30 years or more but remain unable to regularise their legal status. These people often remain “invisible” under Ukraine’s migration legislation.

Tymofii Atamanchuk, a legal analyst at the Center for Civil Liberties, said Ukraine would need to liberalise parts of its migration policy to fulfil its obligations under the EU accession process. This includes introducing a single permit covering both employment and legal residence in Ukraine. It also involves creating a long-term resident status to replace the current quota-based system. Reforms should likewise cover family reunification for foreigners, entry rules, working conditions for seasonal workers and the principle of equal treatment.

“We aspire to become a member of the European Union, yet we still face difficulties employing EU citizens. We need to bring our legislation closer to the EU’s single labour market as a whole,” Atamanchuk said.

Human rights defender Borys Zakharov, director of the Man and Law Charitable Foundation, stressed the need for judicial reform, warning that without an independent judiciary, law enforcement agencies could continue what he described as “repressive” practices. In his view, the State Migration Service and the Security Service of Ukraine also require reform.

As an example of practices that should change, Zakharov cited cases involving the forced removal of Russian nationals to Russia. He referred to Ruslan (Aslan) Khakimov, a volunteer and developer of ground robotic systems who is currently facing deportation, as well as the cases of Zaur Shogentsukov, who was handed over to Russia and killed there a month later, and student Aleksei Herasymov, who was included in a prisoner swap in 2025 and was subsequently prosecuted by the Russian authorities on terrorism charges.

As ZMINA previously reported, around 236,000 people in Ukraine are living at risk of statelessness without identity documents. Because of their unresolved legal status, they are unable to exercise basic rights, including access to education, free healthcare and banking services, or to register their civil status.

In March 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a law abolishing visa requirements for foreign volunteers and humanitarian workers for the duration of martial law.

ZMINA has also reported that more than 70% of foreign volunteers encounter difficulties obtaining documents in Ukraine, including visas, residence permits and registration of their place of residence. These findings are based on the preliminary results of a survey conducted by the Centre for Democracy and Rule of Law.