Problems of access to justice for asylum seekers and refugees discussed in Transcarpathia

On September 21, 2020, a round table “Status of observance of the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons” was held in Uzhgorod.

The meeting was attended by heads of regional and local centers for the provision of free secondary legal aid, representatives of the Temporary Refugee Accommodation Point (PTRB) in the Zakarpattia region, border and migration services, the Children’s Service and the Department of Social Protection of the Population of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration, representatives of the legal and human rights community.

The main topics for discussion were addressing current legal and humanitarian issues, access of vulnerable categories of foreigners to legal protection mechanisms, in particular in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic and quarantine restrictions, discussion of new legislation on stateless persons, conflicts in regulatory acts and administrative practice.

Nadiya Ediyeva

, head of programs of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, presented the project being implemented, spoke about the organization’s experience in the field of protecting the rights of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, highlighted current changes and novelties in migration legislation.

Director of the Regional Center for the Provision of Legal Aid in the Zakarpattia Oblast

Vasyl Popadynets

spoke about the principles of providing legal assistance to seekers of international protection and refugees in the region. In particular, the experts focused in detail on the problematic issues that arise for lawyers when providing free legal assistance to refugees and asylum seekers. The specialist noted that compared to last year, the number of asylum seekers who were provided with legal assistance by the BVPD centers has decreased somewhat. This decrease in clients is caused by quarantine restrictions. Also, Vasyl Yuriyovych stated about urgent problems in the region, in particular, the lack of translators, which complicates the work of lawyers who cooperate with the state BVPD system.

A representative of the Chop border detachment

Serhiy Kurdelchuk

. The border guard also emphasized that the issue of detaining persons who claim to be minors remains unregulated. Gaps in the legislation, time restrictions – these factors lead to the fact that a person who illegally crossed the state border must be released by the border service.

A number of problems and gaps, uncertainties in the legislation and unregulated mechanisms were also voiced by the representative of the Children’s Service of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration

Svitlana Yakimelina

. The official said that the mechanism of action of state services is not prescribed in cases where a person who declared himself a minor does not claim refugee status and is not an asylum seeker. In this case, the Law of Ukraine “On Refugees and Persons in Need of Additional or Temporary Protection” does not apply to him and it is not clear what actions the state should take to this category of foreigners.

Representatives of the Main Directorate of the State Migration Service of Ukraine in the Zakarpattia region

Viktoriya Kovach

and

Oleksandr Rad

spoke about their experience working with asylum seekers. Migrants emphasized that migration issues and mechanisms are mostly regulated by law today, and there are no significant problems in the work. However, they also noted that there are problems with translators and abuse of procedures by foreigners, including persons who have declared themselves minors.

Representative of the NGO “NEEKA”

Oleksandr Luchynets

spoke about practical experience working with foreigners in the region. According to the lawyer, the work between local human rights organizations and state institutions is coordinated. The human rights activist emphasized that it is important that asylum seekers have the opportunity to receive high-quality and timely legal assistance immediately after detention, and not at the stage of judicial consideration of cases, as is generally the case now. Mr. Luchynets also emphasized the problem of translation and the initiation of a mechanism for involving translators using video communication. Oleksandr Luchynets also stated that it is difficult to talk about high-quality legal assistance when during the judicial review of cases, in particular on detention and deportation, foreigners and their representatives are limited in time. Sometimes the court provides no more than 1.5 hours for the consideration of the case, which significantly complicates the preparation and provision of procedural documents and thus violates the rights of foreigners.

During the event, the attendees also discussed problematic aspects of the new legislation on stateless persons and the procedure for submitting applications for international protection, practical challenges in providing legal assistance to foreigners and stateless persons in cases of illegal crossing of the state border under Article 204-1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, mechanisms for appealing decisions on the detention and placement of foreigners in the Temporary Residence Point for Foreigners (PTPI), extension of the terms of their detention and forced deportation from Ukraine.

The participants of the event expressed hope that in the near future the government will bring the regulatory and legal acts into line with the new Law, and that new draft laws and amendments to the existing legislation, which the parliament should adopt in the near future, will resolve the current gaps.

The event was organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with the support of the Press, Education and Culture Section of the US Embassy in Ukraine within the framework of the project “Ensuring Access to Justice for Asylum Seekers, Migrants and Other Vulnerable Groups of Foreign Citizens in Ukraine”.