"The biggest problems for internally displaced persons in Ukraine are lack of permanent housing and work, reintegration in other regions," -- Iryna Herashchenko in the debate at the PACE session
On April 25, 2018, during the Second part of the 2018 Ordinary Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a debate was held on the theme "IDPs’ humanitarian needs and rights in Europe".
Addressing the debate, the First Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Herashchenko drew the colleagues’ attention to a number of topical issues related to the IDPs’ rights in Ukraine as a part of Europe. She stressed that the problem of 1.7 million internally displaced persons (IDP) as such was caused by the continued Russian aggression in the Donbas, the deterioration of security and humanitarian situation in the region as a whole. She also outlined a range of pressing issues related to ensuring the IDPs’ rights, having mentioned among them want of housing and jobs, and reintegration in other regions of the country.
Although the Ukrainian parliament has passed the necessary laws for this category of citizens, the state is reasonably unable at present to provide housing for all IDPs who left their nests due to the Russian aggression. Therefore, the First Vice-Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament urged foreign partners to intensify assistance to the IDPs, in particular through international humanitarian aid channels.
She also notified that the Ukrainian side has been constantly raising the issue of the IDPs’ rights within the framework of the TCG’s working subgroups on the peaceful settlement in the Donbas during the negotiations in Minsk.
"Ukrainian in-migrants should be able to take part in future local elections in the Donbas after de-militarization and de-occupation of this region," Iryna Heraschenko emphasized.
She also observed that it is the Donbas demilitarization and the return of peace to the Ukrainian land can groundly improve the situation with the in-migrants.