ANTI-CRUEL BEHAVIOR

As noted

Dmytro Plechko

, Senior Legal Advisor at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ukraine: “A number of problems arise in the process of implementing the readmission procedure between Ukraine and the EU. In particular, EU countries (for example, Slovakia), using the accelerated readmission procedure, often violate the rights of asylum seekers themselves, do not explain their rights, do not grant them the right to apply for asylum in an EU country, and illegally return illegal migrants to Ukraine.”

The head of the department for work with foreigners of the Chernihiv border detachment

Andriy Ivansky

noted that in recent years the flow of illegal migration through Ukraine has decreased somewhat. “Previously, to get to the EU countries through Ukraine, most illegal migrants from Asian and African countries chose the land route, getting to Ukraine through the border with Russia,” the border guard notes. “Now they choose more legal ways to get to Ukraine (for example, through the possibility of studying at Ukrainian universities) with the aim of further travel to the EU countries.”

Andriy Chernousov



, an expert at the Kharkiv Institute of Social Research, stressed the need for police and border guards to respect the rights of asylum seekers in the context of combating illegal migration. “Law enforcement officers often resort to manifestations of migrant phobia and cruel treatment of detained illegal migrants,” the expert noted. “This is confirmed, in particular, by reports from international human rights organizations on Ukraine.”

Tukhan Ediev



, program director of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, identified the main violations of the rights of asylum seekers that they face during detention and stay in temporary detention centers in Ukraine. These include, first of all, the use of physical force by law enforcement officers during detention, the lack of interpreters, the denial of the right to apply for asylum in Ukraine, the denial of the right to be present in court during the consideration of the case in court, etc.

Addressing the participants of the seminar for judges, the Head of the Court of Appeal of Chernihiv Oblast

Sadigh Taghiyev

noted that the latest changes in migration legislation require representatives of the judiciary to pay special attention to the consideration of cases on the extradition of persons and the prevention of the expulsion of foreigners to countries where they may be subjected to torture and ill-treatment.

The events were organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with the assistance of the NGO “Judicial Association of Ukraine “Justice Promotion Foundation” within the framework of the project “Conducting advocacy campaigns to protect the rights of illegal migrants and persons undergoing readmission in migrant detention centers in Ukraine”, which is implemented with the support of the Open Society Institute.