Ukraine and EU aim to make refugees’ return safe and comfortable, Minister of Social Policy says
Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine Denys Uliutin said this in a comment to Ukrinform.
He noted that the state would not provide special preferences for those returning from abroad: “We will apply the same approaches to internally displaced persons and those returning from outside Ukraine. We cannot create separate special conditions.”
According to Uliutin, the state’s main task in this area is to prepare conditions for a comfortable and voluntary return of citizens, including the development of proper infrastructure — schools, kindergartens, medical services, housing, and jobs.
The minister said that Ukraine, together with the European Commission, including EU Special Envoy Ylva Johansson, is working on mechanisms that will make the return of Ukrainians “as voluntary and comfortable as possible.”
When asked whether the reduction or termination of assistance to Ukrainians abroad would encourage their return, Uliutin noted that he did not support such an approach, as it might increase refugees’ vulnerability and create additional risks of human trafficking.
As reported by Ukrinform, the Minister of Social Policy is currently in New York, where he is participating in the High-Level Plenary of the Global Assembly on the appraisal of the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons.
