The highest level of intolerance and conflict between internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the host community was recorded in Kharkiv region, a national-level adviser for internally displaced persons at the Ministry for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine, Anastasia Odintsova, has said.
“Our survey recorded the highest level of intolerance in Kharkiv region and the lowest in Kyiv and Lviv regions,” she said at a press conference at the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency in Kyiv on Jan. 24.
According to the survey, Kharkiv region saw a threatening level of intolerance towards certain groups of the population, which calls for the need to take urgent measures.
According to the expert, the most difficult situation with ensuring the basic vital needs of the population is in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which is due to the highest unemployment rate.
“We have the best situation in Kyiv due to the fact that there is a possibility of renting housing and the highest salary. The monitoring showed that it was twice as high as in other regions,” she said.
The highest payment for renting housing, according to Odintsova, was recorded in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions.
“The best situation in the ‘wage-rent’ ratio was recorded in Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” she added.
The expert also recommended that measures be taken to create jobs for IDPs in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and to create an opportunity to rent housing for IDPs in Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions.
While commenting on the results of the monitoring, Deputy Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Heorhiy Tuka noted that the ministry would adjust existing programs based on monitoring data.
“We will have to somewhat change the vector. I was surprised that the lowest salary was recorded in Dnipropetrovsk region and, at the same time, the region has one of the highest payments for renting housing. In the ratio of the cost of housing to the wage the highest figure is in Dnipropetrovsk region – IDPs have to pay almost 67 percent of the average salary to rent housing,” Tuka said.
