Ministry of Social Policy: Government of Ukraine guarantees the social protection to 1.3 mln IDPs

In Ukraine, there are more than 1 million 300 thousand internally displaced persons who were forced to flee the territories, which are temporarily occupied by Russia. The Cabinet of Ministers continues to provide assistance to them and working on improvement of their social protection. Officials stressed this at the opening of a two-day seminar on registration and integration of internally displaced persons within the Eastern Partnership Panel on Migration and Asylum in Kyiv on Thursday, June 4.

Describing the situation with IDPs in Ukraine owing to military aggression of Russia, representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy emphasized that Ukraine has actually faced a million-movement of Ukrainians, which is comparable in scale with internal migration during the Chernobyl disaster.

In cooperation with international organizations the Ministry of Social Policy has promptly organized information base of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and their registration in order to provide them with an appropriate status. The Government of Ukraine has allocated about UAH3.4 bln for monthly cash assistance to these people for rent and utilities. They are provided with easier access to pensions, financial aid, job search, adaptation in the new environment.

As of June 3 2015, departments of the Ministry of Social Policy registered 1.325 million of internally displaced persons from Donbas and Crimea or 1.41,282 million families. This figure, according to officials, is constantly growing.

Recall that the Government of Ukraine established the Interdepartmental Coordination Staff in order to help IDPs, which includes representatives from 15 ministries and departments. Informational resources were created. We developed and provide former residents of Donbas and Crimea with "road maps" with a clear sequence of actions designed to help IDPs to get acquainted with their rights and opportunities offered by the state.

Moreover, the Ministry of Social Policy developed a project of the complex state program of integration, social adaptation, protection and reintegration of IDPs for 2015-2016, which is pending approval by the Government. This project is aimed at solving problems of internally displaced persons.