Refugees from eastern Ukraine are victims of crime; they are not the cause of the crime surge, and the migrant crisis should be resolved through fighting crime and helping the migrants adjust to their new life situation, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said.
“The truth is that millions of people had to flee their homes. Those people lost their homes, moved to Kyiv, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk and actually became the victims of a crime surge, that situation triggered a crime surge. One should not misrepresent the situation by saying that migrants are provoking a crime increase; in fact, crime is provoked by the situation they have found themselves in. They have no home, no means of subsistence and they are an easy target for criminals,” the minister told the press in Kyiv on Thursday.
The whole of society is suffering from this situation, he said. “Up to one million people have come to Kyiv. These people are an easy target for the mob. Being in a state of emotion, grief and a new life situation, they become victims of many crimes. This is what causes the [crime] surge,” Avakov said.
“A migrant crisis always causes a crime surge in any part of the world,” the minister said.
There are two ways to resolve this problem, i.e. to fight crime and to help the migrants settle down, he said.
