A group of internally displaced persons has been camped outside of the Ministry of Social Policy since the morning of June 13. And they say they’re not leaving until their voices are heard by the minister.
The protest in Kyiv came after the Cabinet of Ministers amended a resolution last week that would regulate how internally displaced persons receive social benefits from the government.
“Our aim is to protect the rights of those who have been forced to move from the Donbas,” said Hennadiy Borisichev, a leader of the social movement, “Zemliki,” which organized the protest.
In a separate rally on June 14, about two hundred internally displaced persons gathered outside the Cabinet of Ministers, also to show their opposition to the resolution.
The resolution introduces monitoring commissions — so-called “mobile groups” — to assess conditions in the homes of internally displaced people. The commissions would have the right to suspend benefits based on their findings–if a person is not found to be living in his stated residence, his benefits could be revoked. Suspensions can be cancelled, but only after a two-month waiting period.
Minister of Social Policy Andriy Reva declined to comment, saying he would speak on the subject at a press conference he was to hold on June 17.
However, Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights, National Minorities, and International Relations Hryhorii Nemyria has released a statement criticizing the resolution. In it, he said he feared that it would lead to abuses.
“The changes proposed by the government provoke serious concern in terms of respect for the legitimate rights of internally displaced people,” Nemyria said in the statement.
“These provisions are likely to introduce a mechanism of punishment of internally displaced people for those things they can afford to freely move around the country,” Nemyria said in the statement, adding that no other group of citizens in Ukraine was subject to such monitoring.
Andriy Timoshenko, an activist who left Donetsk in July 2014, has slept on blankets outside of the ministry every night since June 13. He has left the site only to shower, he said, because he can’t stand being dirty. Timoshenko wore a sleek corduroy jacket over his t-shirt, emblazoned with the “Zemliki” logo.
Andriy Timoshenko (center) sits with Sergey Kozin (left), both “Zemliki” activists, on blankets in front of the Ministry of Social Policy, as a member of the National Guard leaves the building. Activists have spent three nights camped out in front of the ministry already. (Volodya Petrov)
“Personally, the resolution won’t affect me much. I don’t receive aid from the government,” Timoshenko said. “But for people who live in poverty, on the very brink of survival, these small subsidies mean a lot. They don’t have anywhere to live or anything to live on. Instead of helping people who have lost their homes, the government is restricting their rights.”
Internally displaced people are paid Hr 900 ($36) a month if they are unfit to work, and Hr 400 ($18) if they are. The protesters worry that the resolution means that some would lose even these small sums.
Sergey Kozin, another “Zemliki” activist, was not forced to move, but his wife and her family are internally displaced persons. Kozin is suspicious of the lack of clarity surrounding the mobile groups and the inspections they will conduct. He suspects that the inspections will be unannounced, and will be used to unfairly reduce subsidies or eliminate them altogether, if a resident is found absent from his home.
In the past, concerns have been raised about people scamming to receive payments as displaced people. With its inspection policy, the new resolution attempts to verify the identity and place of residence of everyone registered to receive payments. But activists worry there will be discrimination instead.
“The resolution passed on June 8 discriminates against displaced people,” said Olga Gvazdyova, a coordinator at Donbas SOS, one of several organizations that helped organize Monday’s mass protest. “Our main argument is that displaced people are Ukrainian citizens. Why invent new rules for them?”
Since the war began in eastern Ukraine, an estimated 1.8 million people have become internally displaced persons, according to the Ministry of Social Policy. The poor and elderly have been particularly affected by the conflict, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Geoff Wordley in an interview with Ukrainian television’s Hromadske channel on June 13.
In addition to the cancellation of the resolution, the protesters outside the Ministry of Social Policy have four demands: return the right to vote to internally displaced people, provide subsidized housing, compensate for homes lost due to the war, and fire former Minister of Social Policy Pavlo Rozenko from the Cabinet of Ministers.
The group also aimed to upend stereotypes about displaced people. One sign pasted on the wall of the Ministry of Social Policy read, “(We’re) Not Separatists.”
A recent study by the United Nations Refugee Agency found that, though most Ukrainians have positive or neutral attitudes toward displaced people, attitudes in Kyiv were significantly worse. Forty percent of Kyiv residents associate increasing crime rates with displaced people, and 20 percent perceive a rise in social tension.
At the June 14 rally, protesters wore t-shirts that read, “Citizen of Ukraine.” In a symbolic move, they slowly covered the t-shirts with stickers that read, “displaced person.” Gvazdyova said this was meant to represent how citizenship status was being eclipsed by the status of a displaced person.
