A new central body of executive power appeared a month ago – State Migration Service (SMS). It is the fifth attempt to make a separate body which would be engaged exclusively in issues of citizenship and migration. And now this newly created institution has all chances to regulate a chain of questions in the filed of migration policy and citizenship of the government.
Source: Amnesty International Ukraine
Amnesty International has condemned the mistreatment of eight Afghan citizens awaiting deportation from Ukraine, who are being beaten by border guards and denied adequate food, water and medical treatment. Continue reading ‘Afghan citizens beaten in detention at Ukraine airport’
The numbers of migrants trying to cross into the EU from Ukraine appear to be falling, no doubt because EU assistance has reinforced Ukrainian border patrols. But an alarming report by Human Rights Watch suggests that ill-treatment of migrants on the Ukrainian side may also be part of the deterrent.
Continue reading ‘France 24: Asylum seekers face abuse at the gates of Europe’
Source: No Border Project – Social Action Centre
On 2 March 2011 in the premises of the Kyiv City Migration Service (KMS), right after receiving a rejection in refugee status from that authority, a refugee Denis Solopov was detained by police. Migration Service where refugees are supposed to come and ask for protection turned out to be a trap, where they are caught on demand of their persecutors.
Continue reading ‘Ukraine: Refugee is imprisoned again because he is a refugee’
Since 2008 the BMPU-project is documenting cases of unlawful returns (“refoulement”) from neighbouring EU-countries to Ukraine. But even if refugees and other vulnerable migrants manage to enter the Hungarian asylum system, they are first confronted with month in detention and after their release they have to live under highly precarious conditions.
Find the UNHCR-study about homeless refugees in Budapest here.
5. 9. 2010: Press article by Anna Kornajová
Tourists found already a second dead migrant in the Poloniny mountains
On Saturday morning a tourist found a young dead woman in a remote area of the protected area of the water reservoir Starina in the National Poloniny Park. Most probably an illegal migrant. What is shocking is that on Thursday another migrant of the same age died by the Schengen border. Both bodies were in areas where tourists go.
The biggest detention centres for irregular migrants’ stay, for 100 persons each are going to be equipped in Mykolaiiv and Donetsk regions. In Chop (Transcarpathian region) a centre will appear a little bit later designed for 66 persons. Besides, it is planned to equip seven small centres for 10 persons each – three in Transcarpathian region, two in Lviv and one each in Sumy and Luhansk regions. Until now, the arrangement of detention centres is at the starting stage: There is acceptance of tender proposals in Ukrainian Reprehensive Action Office of EU, which will continue till April 11.
The following report refers to conversations during a two-day visit to Hungary. Predominantly, we talked to Afghan refugees in Debrecen (reception centre – transfers after the first screening in Békéscsaba or after the end of detention in one of the various detention centres) and in Bicske (camp for unaccompanied minors and recognised refugees), but also to staff of the Hungarian Helsinki Committee. The focus of these conversations was the situation of refugees, deported to Hungary under the Dublin II Regulation – but also the social conditions of refugees in Hungary in general.
This 124-page report is based on interviews with 161 refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers in Ukraine, Slovakia, and Hungary. It shows that although some conditions in migration detention facilities have improved, Ukraine subjects many migrants to inhuman and degrading treatment and has been unable or unwilling to provide effective protection for retfugees and asylum seekers.
The Border Monitoring Project Ukraine (BMPU) has produced a report concerning the Refoulement of Refugees and Minors on the Eastern Borders of the EU, the situation in Ukraine and the responsibility of the European Union. The core of the report is based on interviews with refugees and other vulnerable migrants the BMPU conducted in 2009 and 2010.
Press Release (English) | Press Release (Ukrainian) | Press Release (German) | Press Release (Hungarian)
Recently published by BMPU: Report on Corruption in the Immigration, Detention and Asylum System of Ukraine
Published 2011 by BMPU: Access to Protection Denied – Refoulement of Refugees and Minors on the Eastern Borders of the EU
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Mass Media
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