Tweet

According to this agreement, Ukraine and EU undertake without superfluous formality to accept own citizens which has violated the conditions of stay on the territory of other contracting party as well as citizens of third countries on the assumption of disclosure of evidence stipulated by this agreement. For present moment Ukrainian state agencies are not ready for full-value execution of readmission procedure and proper respect for human rights and guaranteeing the proper detention conditions. Irregular migrants detained in the EU countries with high human rights standards are transferred to Ukraine’s detention facilities with still imperfect system of human rights protection as well low detention standards and conditions. The attempts to research these problems, especially in the context of ill-treatment, were rather isolated.

With this purpose, Chernihiv Public Committee of Human Rights Protection, with the financial support of the Open Society Institute, implements the project providing for complex approach to solving the problem of detention of illegal migrants in Ukraine’s detention facilities. In particular, the project is aimed at elimination of human rights abuses against detained irregular migrants in Ukraine through setting up a national system for the prevention of torture and ill-treatment against irregular migrants, improving detention conditions, establishing cooperation between NGOs and state officials which face with irregular migrants during course of duty, in order to respect for their human rights and effectively combat ill-treatment; and strengthening the capacity of civil society to influence state policy in the area of the EU-Ukraine Readmission Agreement and prevention of ill-treatment against detained migrants.

The proposed activities include cooperation activity with state agencies, development of the migrants-assisting CSO network in the places of their detention, activity with wide sections of society, promote better formulation of policies, legislative frameworks, administrative machinery and decision-making on protection of human rights of migrants and asylum seekers in detention facilities, preventing irregular migration and implementing readmission procedure by the way of monitoring and drafting of legislation, monitoring of human rights of detained irregular migrants, analytical work, including expert assessment of problem areas in legislation and participation in drawing up laws, lobbying drafts of law, improving a system of giving legal aid to illegal migrants in detention centers and methodology for strategic litigation, consolidating and broadening the network for preventing ill-treatment of detained migrants, monitoring of discrimination against detained irregular migrants, research and advocacy activity promoting the removal of discriminatory barriers and to reduce discriminatory practices in order to combat discrimination in Ukraine’s migrants detention facilities, other awareness-raising and educational activities.

Project activity includes the set of actions directed to promoting EU-Ukraine Readmission Agreement’s implementation in the context of respect for standards of treatment of migrants and asylum seekers: establishing sustainable system of giving legal aid to migrants and asylum seekers who are victims of cruel treatment, torture or human rights abuses; promoting change of public opinion and level of tolerance towards migrants, foreigners and minorities; drawing public attention to the problems of ill-treatment of migrants; monitoring and analytical activity, including expert analysis of the problems in legislative field and participation in amendment drafting of normative documents; training support of the persons who face with the migrants and asylum seekers during course of duty (border guards, policemen, judges, migration service’s officers) on human rights standards; establishing mechanism of independent control over respect for human rights in Ukraine’s migrant detention facilities, etc.

The project is implemented with the financial support of the Open Society Institute (http://www.osi.hu).