Human rights & reintegration of the occupied territories

2. Current challenges / issues in the relevant policy area

Thus, at the beginning of autumn 2019, working structures responsible for the implementation of the issue of reintegration of the occupied territories were formed in the legislative and executive branches of government, as well as in the Office of the President of Ukraine. However, the question of systematic work and coordination of these structures to achieve the stated goal remains open.

The question of vision of the goals and means of reintegration, as well as its strategy remains unsettled. Such uncertainty makes it impossible to take a holistic approach in addressing specific problems that are systemic in nature and have a significant impact on the future of reintegration. Foremost, it concerns the mechanism for paying pensions to citizens living in the occupied territories, including people with limited mobility. Then, solving the issue of documents issued in the occupied territories also remains important. It includes not just creating an out-of-court mechanism for issuing Ukrainian certificates of birth or death, which took place under the occupation, but also determining the procedure for the use of information from the documents issued in the temporarily occupied territories, such as education documents, medical certificates confirming the period of work, court and notarial documents, etc. Restoration of lost documents issued in the temporarily occupied territories before the armed conflict (passports, documents confirming ownership, etc.) is also problematic.

A large block of issues is related to the economic activity on the occupied territories. Thus, the creation of a free economic zone "Crimea" has led to discrimination against Crimean inhabitants who continue to be considered as non-residents in the spheres of taxations and customs. On the occupied territories of Donbas, entrepreneurs who continued to work there after the ban on conducting economic activities, might be held criminally responsible on the territories controlled by the Government of Ukraine on charges of financing terrorism[1]. At the same time, there is no possibility for Ukraine to control the economic processes on the temporarily occupied territories, as well as to guarantee the right to property for private and legal persons living there.

A number of issues that were still being resolved at the beginning of March 2020 still remains unsettled. In particular, there is a question of introduction of effective mechanisms for compensation of the losses caused by damage or destruction of habitation as a result of armed aggression; comprehensive support for persons deprived of their liberty as a result of the conflict; introduction of an administrative out-of-court mechanism for recognizing the facts of birth and death that took place in the occupied territories, etc.

The COVID-19 pandemic introduced new challenges for the Ukrainian authorities. The quarantine restrictions introduced in March to prevent the spread of COVID-19 resulted in de facto cessation of entry-exit checkpoints’ operation on the occupied territories. This has led to separation of families, limited access to health care, medication, etc. At the same time, the response of the occupying authorities to the COVID-19 pandemic only complicated the situation in the occupied territories and led to new human rights violations. In particular, the crossing of the entry-exit checkpoints remains significantly complicated even after the resumption of their work by Ukraine. In violation of international humanitarian law, Russian Federation failed to ensure the necessary level of operation of sanitary and hospital facilities and services, as well as public hygiene in the occupied territory of Crimea in order to combat the spread of COVID-19[2]. Similar situation is observed in the occupied territories of Donbas.

As of the beginning of July 2020, significant progress has been made in ensuring access to education for residents of the occupied territories. Thus, on July 3, the Ukrainian Parliament passed a law[3] that significantly expanded the opportunities for admission to higher education institutions of persons from the occupied territories: they could apply to any educational institution within the quota (this year, 13 000 places were allocated) without passing the external independent evaluation test. Unfortunately, progressive legislative changes have not yet significantly affected the number of entrants from the occupied territories. This was due to the quarantine restrictions for crossing of entry-exit checkpoints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as due to the deliberate actions of the occupying authorities, which forbade young people to enter the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine without reasoning[4]. According to the results of the main stage of the admission campaign, as of August 31, 321 entrants from Crimea and 1,008 entrants from Donbas received a recommendation to be enrolled on state-funded programs. The admissions process for the inhabitants of the occupied territories will last until October 23.