READMISSION AGREEMENT BETWEEN UKRAINE AND THE EU

According to this agreement, Ukraine and the EU countries undertake to accept without unnecessary formalities their own citizens who have violated the stay regime on the territory of the other contracting party, as well as citizens of third countries, provided that they present evidence stipulated by this agreement. The activity of such an instrument in Ukraine-EU relations, unfortunately, so far demonstrates the unpreparedness of Ukrainian state structures to fully implement the readmission procedure and the corresponding observance of human rights and freedoms, guaranteeing appropriate conditions of detention. Illegal migrants who are transferred to Ukraine from EU countries, where there are high standards of treatment and quality of living, finding themselves in Ukrainian reality, very often face a range of problems that they could not even imagine while staying in closed institutions of the European Union countries. Examples of research into these problems, especially in the context of degrading treatment, are quite rare.

That is why the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights, with the support of the Open Society Institute, is implementing a project that provides for a comprehensive approach to resolving the situation regarding the stay of illegal migrants in closed institutions of Ukraine. In particular, it is aimed at preventing violations of the human rights of migrants and asylum seekers by promoting the implementation of a national system for combating torture and ill-treatment of migrants, improving their detention conditions, developing cooperation between NGOs and civil servants dealing with illegal migrants in the performance of their official duties, with the aim of respecting human rights and effectively combating ill-treatment, as well as strengthening the potential of civil society to influence state policy in the context of the Agreement between Ukraine and the EU on Readmission, preventing ill-treatment of detained migrants.

The project activities include a whole range of measures aimed at promoting the implementation of the Ukraine-EU Readmission Agreement in terms of compliance with standards of treatment of migrants and asylum seekers: implementation of a sustainable system of legal assistance to migrants and asylum seekers who have become victims of ill-treatment, torture and human rights violations; promoting a change in public opinion and the level of tolerance towards migrants and foreigners; drawing public attention to the problems of ill-treatment of migrants; monitoring and analytical work, including expert assessment of problems in the legislative sphere and participation in the development of regulatory documents; training support for persons who come into contact with migrants and asylum seekers in the performance of their official duties (border guards, police, judges, migration service employees) on human rights standards; introduction of a mechanism for independent control over the observance of migrants’ rights in temporary residence points for foreigners, etc.