Lubinets calls state policy on displaced persons failure

Ukraine still lacks a single body responsible for policy on temporarily occupied territories and the protection of internally displaced persons' rights, which leads to large-scale systemic problems.

This was stated by the Verkhovna Rada's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets during a conversation with journalists, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.

“We officially have 4.6 million citizens with IDP status. When the relevant ministry was abolished without a logical explanation and without the creation of a single body, people were faced with the fact that they did not even know where to get information and why payments were not coming,” Lubinets said.

He added that the powers that were previously concentrated in one body are now scattered among different institutions, which complicates the lives of displaced persons.

“In my opinion, a fundamental mistake was made. The only body that systematically records and responds to violations of IDP rights today is our institution,” the ombudsman said.

Lubinets recalled that in 2022, a special department was created in the ombudsman's office to protect the rights of victims of Russian aggression, but it cannot replace the functions of a state executive body.

“We see a fundamental failure of state policy: there is no algorithm for how a person who wants to evacuate should act, how to obtain a certificate, where to go for help, where to live, and what to do if the conditions are not suitable,” he stressed.

The Commissioner also noted that he had officially recommended the creation of a separate state body that would systematically deal with issues related to IDPs and citizens in temporarily occupied territories. "This decision is already in parliament. But as of today, I see global systemic problems - from the moment of evacuation to reintegration into new communities. This is a failure at the state level," Lubinets concluded.

As reported by Ukrinform, on December 1, applications began to be accepted for housing vouchers for internally displaced persons whose homes remained in the temporarily occupied territories. As of December 5, 16,500 applications had already been submitted to participate in the housing voucher program for displaced persons from the occupied territories.

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