Contribution by Ukraine to the questionnaire in view of the Drafting Committee on Migrant women (19.08.2020)

The party concerned

Which issues and existing gaps should be covered by a future Council of Europe recommendation on migrant and refugee women?

State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

We would like to point out that the issue of concern, which should be taken into account in future recommendations of the Council of Europe and with regard to the rights of migrant women and refugee women, is that there is an urgent need of training and education an appropriate number of female military personnel of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine to accompany (escort) migrant women to their States of origin.

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine

Migrant women, especially refugees and asylum seekers, need the most attention to the problem of domestic violence. There are cases when women with obvious signs of violence seek protection in Ukraine in the presence of their husbands, but do not know the language and cannot seek help for fear of a husband.

Also problematic for this category of people are: insufficient protection against various forms of gender-based violence; language and cultural barriers, customs and traditions of the countries of departure, while

remaining relevant, complicate the integration process in the host country, access to information on rights and services available to them, as well as access to justice and effective remedies. Practical implementation of the legislation of Ukraine on foreigners and persons without citizenship, especially refugees and persons in need of subsidiary protection, takes into account gender aspects. Women, single women with children, children divorced from family, etc. are members of a vulnerable group whose applications for receipt protection in Ukraine are considered with special attention and detailed analysis situations.

A new Refugee Integration Action Plan is currently being developed persons in need of additional protection into Ukrainian society for the period up to 2025. The State Migration Service of Ukraine keeps statistical records on the number of refugees and persons in need of additional protection, taking into account gender composition of migrants. It should be noted that according to statistics, the number of women seeking protection in Ukraine is many times less than the number of men seeking protection.

Speaker/experts who could contribute to future GEC-MIG discussion

NAUMENKO Natalia

Phone: +380 44 278 79 94 - Fax: +380 44 226 23 39

e-mail: [email protected]

State Migration Service of Ukraine

Migrant women, especially refugees and asylum seekers, need the most attention to the problem of domestic violence. There are cases when women with obvious signs of violence seek protection in Ukraine in the presence of their husbands, but do not know the language and cannot seek help for fear of a husband.

Also problematic for this category of people are:

insufficient protection against various forms of gender-based violence;

language and cultural barriers, customs and traditions of the countries of departure, while remaining relevant, complicate the integration process in the host country, access to information on rights and services available to them, as well as access to justice and effective remedies.

Practical implementation of the legislation of Ukraine on foreigners and persons without citizenship, especially refugees and persons in need of subsidiary protection, takes into account gender aspects. Women, single women with children, children divorced from family, etc. are members of a vulnerable group whose applications for receipt protection in Ukraine are considered with special attention and detailed analysis situations.

A new Refugee Integration Action Plan is currently being developed persons in need of additional protection into Ukrainian society for the period up to 2025.

The State Migration Service of Ukraine keeps statistical records on the number of refugees and persons in need of additional protection, taking into account gender composition of migrants.

It should be noted that according to statistics, the number of women seeking protection in Ukraine is many times less than the number of men seeking protection.

NGO "Ukrainian Center for Social Reforms"

·         Improving statistics on immigrant, IDP and refugee women (for instance, adding gender differentiation of foreign students in Ukraine; adding level of education for refugee statistics);

·         Creating more opportunities for immigrant, IDP and refugee women to attend Ukrainian language courses (for instance, location of the courses’ premises should be close to their settlements; courses’ premises with kids’ playgrounds, a babysitter and so on).

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representation in Ukraine

According to UNHCR’s statistics, as of 31 December 2019, there were 2,172 refugees and 2,430 asylum-seekers residing in Ukraine. About 20% of these people are female.

Please note that the State Migration Service does not track statistics on the overall number of asylum-seekers currently living in Ukraine and only reports on the number of new applicants per year. The statistics provided above is based on UNHCR registration database. Please note that these figures only reflects the number of asylum-seekers who have approached UNHCR or its partners for assistance.  

Refugees and asylum-seekers are mostly located in urban settings with the biggest concentrations in Kyiv, Odesa and Kharkiv, and to a lesser extent in Lviv and the Zakarpatska oblast.

The refugees and asylum-seekers in Ukraine come from over 60 different countries, with a majority coming from Afghanistan (refugees - 38%; asylum-seekers – 25% ), Syria (refugees - 24%; asylum-seekers – 7%), Russian Federation (refugees - 6%; asylum-seekers – 9%), Somalia (refugees - 4%, asylum-seekers – 5%) and other.

While some refugees and asylum-seekers have managed to learn Ukrainian, find a job, start a business and integrate, others have encountered challenges in integrating and becoming self-sufficient due to their specific needs. These include single mothers of large families, unaccompanied minors, persons with disabilities and those who have experienced traumatic experiences and who, therefore, might experience difficulties in integrating into a new society.

Irrespective the gender, refugees also face other challenges when integrating, such as discrimination, legislative discrepancies, corruption (as mentioned by refugees during participatory assessment conducted by UNHCR in 2019) as well as language or administrative barriers which prevents them from accessing employment opportunities. One of the major challenges for integration is lack of appropriate documentation and a low refugee recognition rate on the part of the government.

Ukraine has limited established reception capacity. There are three temporary accommodation centers for asylum-seekers with limited capacity (max. 320 persons).  Individuals and families accepted in those centers are accommodated free of charge in those centers run by the Government but do not receive any other form of financial or material support.

Refugees in Ukraine in theory have access to social protection systems on par with the Ukrainian nationals. In practice, this access is limited by low awareness on the part of the Ukrainian service providers about these category of people and their rights, bureaucratic obstacles, language barrier etc.

Asylum-seekers in Ukraine do not benefit from any form of social protection mechanisms. They do not have the right to work legally, and they must pay for access to public health services. Most of them survive by finding small jobs in Ukraine’s large informal sector, in the markets, fast-food outlets, repair shops, etc.

Irrespective to gender, refugees and in particular asylum-seekers, are facing huge difficulties in accessing official employment in Ukraine. A special work permit is required from asylum-seekers which, in practice, is impossible to obtain. Following amendments introduced in the legislation in 2017, in order to be able to apply for a work permit, asylum-seekers should be offered by a potential employer a salary amounting to 10 times the minimum wages (47 230 UAH as of the beginning of 2020). It is mentioned in the Key Advocacy Messages indcated above. The following document also contains information on the socio-economic profile of the refugee population in Ukraine which may be useful for you.

In addition to the just mentioned legislative obstacles to employment, women face additional burden of childcare, as access to kindergarten is also connected to residency registration and the services for child-care are not free of charge. While this point can be burdensome for a Ukrainian family, it places particular difficulties on asylum-seekers without stable income. Lack of access to childcare services leads to drops out from language classes and more limited access to employment.

As you will see in the above-mentioned document on Key Advocacy messages, access to healthcare for asylum-seekers is very limited. In addition to vast financial difficulties, refugee and asylum-seeking women face difficulties related to discrimination on the grounds of skin color; difficulties with finding medical professionals who would speak foreign languages; or lack of medical expertise in the issues related to FGM (relevant to a small group of refugees and asylum-seekers from some countries where these practices are still used).

Refugee and asylum-seeking women do not have factual access to psychological support, as well as other essential services, often due to the language barriers or, in the case of asylum-seekers, due to the status of their document.

In addition to the general lack of services for SGBV survivors in Ukraine and related challenges, asylum-seeking women face additional obstacles with access to available services: they might be refused admission to the shelters because of their documents; language barrier and lack of interpreters for effective communication with lawyers, medical staff etc.

International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Mission in Ukraine

1.    Ensure evidence-based approach: Improve reliability of data, ensure regular data collection and analysis to better design policies and programmes that address needs of migrant women.

2.    Enhance protection and prevention work: The immediate and long-term socioeconomic implications of the pandemic disproportionally affect men and women, making pre-existing inequalities and rights violations more visible. Migrant women working in non-essential service industries such as food service and hospitality and domestic workers in predominantly female-heavy sectors (e.g., housekeeping, childcare) are particularly vulnerable to being laid off or exploited for their labour during COVID-19. The violence and abuse faced by victims of trafficking, particularly women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation, can lead to a range of lasting physical and psychological consequences affecting on an individual’s capacity to recover and engage in a normal life. Furthermore, the stigma of sexual exploitation in the society and trauma of the survivors, makes identification more difficult and its victims often remain invisible to social protection services. COVID-19, similarly to other crisis situations, exacerbates migrants’ vulnerabilities to trafficking and exploitation and it is essential that anti-trafficking work, particularly preventative measures are funded and commence immediately to build resilience and protect vulnerable populations. In addition, enhancing access to local employment opportunities for women and girls, in particular those in a vulnerable situation is key to reduce risks of trafficking and exploitation.

3.    Uphold the right to health for all:  It is essential that all foreigners, regardless of their status, have access to basic services and health care, as well as COVID-19 testing.