Ukraine facing biggest displacement crisis in Europe - UN

This was stated by International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ukraine's Chief of Mission, Dr. Thomas Lothar Weiss, the press service of the organization reported.

"Ukraine is facing the biggest displacement crisis in Europe since the Balkan Wars. Over 3.4 million conflict-affected people in Ukraine require humanitarian assistance," Weiss said.

According to him, since 2014, IOM has assisted nearly 280,000 IDPs and conflict-affected people within its humanitarian, economic empowerment and social cohesion programs and is committed to continue.

At the same time, the report notes that the employment situation for IDPs deteriorates.

Thus, the average income for an IDP has also continued to fall since December 2017. By June 2018 it had fallen to less than UAH 2,100, or $77, per month. This is less than the national subsistence level calculated by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, which stood at more than UAH 3,300 in June 2018.

Weiss believes that the decrease in income, which might be related to the decline in employment, "deepens IDP's vulnerability in the long-term."

According to new data collected by IOM, the UN Migration Agency, in the framework of the EU-funded project, in June, 42% of surveyed IDPs were employed, which reflects a 6% drop from March this year. A total of 11% of IDPs are actively looking for a job and ready to start working within a two-week period. Those looking for jobs overwhelmingly report difficulties securing appropriate work. These challenges include low pay for available vacancies, lack of vacancies corresponding to their qualifications, and discrimination by employers on the basis of their age or IDP status.

In addition, research shows that healthcare has become unaffordable for many IDPs due to the cost of medicine and services.

IOM has been conducting surveys on the situation of IDPs in Ukraine on a regular basis since March 2016. The research presents integrated data of face-to-face and telephone interviews with IDPs, returnees, key informants and people crossing the contact line as well as focus groups discussions. In the latest, 10th round, conducted in June 2018, a total of 2,406 respondents were interviewed face-to-face, and 4,006 by telephone.

As reported, more than 1.5 million internally displaced persons are officially registered in Ukraine.

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