Human rights activists help internally displaced people from the ATO zone

Since October 2014, a large-scale project has been implemented in Ukraine, which is aimed at promoting the legal protection of citizens who are forced to leave occupied and dangerous territories.

The project is being implemented in 10 regions of our country, including Chernihiv region. It is implemented with the support of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) in cooperation with 11 powerful regional non-governmental organizations.

As part of the project, internally displaced persons are informed through the media about their legal rights, legal remedies, and the availability of legal services. Qualified lawyers also provide primary and secondary legal assistance: they consult, in particular, via Skype, prepare the necessary procedural documents, and, if necessary, represent people’s interests in courts.

The main target groups of the project are internally displaced persons (IDPs) who were forced to leave the occupied territories and the war zone, as well as public activists who deal with the problems of internally displaced persons, or who themselves have been persecuted due to their public or professional activities in the occupied territories.

“The tragic events in the east of the country and the external occupation have led to widespread cases of violations of citizens’ rights,” says Vitaliy Misyats, Executive Director of the All-Ukrainian Coalition for Legal Aid. “Many of our citizens, including representatives of vulnerable groups who have suffered as a result of the armed conflict or due to threats of violence and persecution, are forced to leave their homes and seek refuge in other regions of Ukraine. Unfortunately, the majority of internally displaced persons in Ukraine still do not have the opportunity to exercise their rights. Many of them have lost everything, including homes, documents, means of livelihood, and even connections with their family members. Some citizens lost their jobs, others were deprived of legal benefits and services, and some suffered property damage. The most tragic cases are those when people were injured and lost their lives. Therefore, one of the project’s tasks is to provide comprehensive legal support to the affected persons.

A more important component of the project is to provide legal and resource support to public activists who have left their regions due to persecution and threats of repression, or whose lives are in danger, as well as to lawyers and human rights defenders from all regions of Ukraine who provide legal assistance to internally displaced persons and victims of persecution.”

“The problems that this project is designed to solve are also relevant for the Chernihiv region,” says Viktor Tarasov, head of the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights. – After all, almost 6 thousand displaced persons from Crimea and the eastern regions have already been registered in our region alone. The key problems facing our internal “refugees” are receiving social benefits and services, finding housing and employment, protecting property rights, registering and obtaining the status of “migrant”, children’s access to education, receiving medical and humanitarian assistance, ensuring other human rights and freedoms of migrants from Crimea and the eastern region. Our task is to minimize their legal problems and help people protect their rights. Therefore, our organization, which is a member of the All-Ukrainian Coalition for Legal Aid, is involved in the active implementation of this project in the Chernihiv region.”

The project “Protection of Civil and Civic Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and Vulnerable Groups” is being implemented in the Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Rivne, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi and Chernihiv regions.

To receive free legal assistance and other information regarding their status, internally displaced persons residing in the Chernihiv region can contact

Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights at the address: 57/1 Gorkogo St., Chernihiv, 14000, hotline number:


(0462) 612-532





(0462) 612-532.

You’ll need Skype Credit

Free via Skype