Human rights defenders demand to launch procedure for identifying Ukrainian citizens under occupation

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine

State Migration Service of Ukraine

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine

We, the representatives of the Coalition of NGOs for Protection of the Rights of Persons Affected by Armed Aggression against Ukraine, appeal to you as there is an urgent need to launch the procedure for identifying Ukrainian citizens, who live in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine or have left it, to issue such citizens a certificate to enable them to return to Ukraine and/or be issued a passport of Ukrainian citizen subsequently.

One of the negative consequences of the armed aggression against Ukraine unleashed in 2014 is significant difficulties in obtaining the passports of Ukrainian citizens by those who permanently reside in or have left the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. The procedure for issuing a passport of Ukrainian citizen to a person over 18 years of age, who was a child at the time of the armed aggression against Ukraine and did not receive a passport of Ukrainian citizen for various reasons, is particularly difficult. Currently, a separate procedure for submitting documents and additional checks to identify a person is established for such people.

In accordance with the Procedure for drawing up, issuing, exchanging, sending, withdrawing, returning to the state, invalidating, and destroying a passport of Ukrainian citizen, approved by Resolution No. 302 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of March 25, 2015, persons applying for a passport for the first time after reaching the age of 18 should submit additional documents containing a personal photo. If a person who has reached the age of 18 does not submit documents with photo cards, an identity verification procedure is carried out by sending requests for verification of documents and information specified by an applicant in a written application, and an identity verification procedure is carried out by interviewing witnesses (at least two relatives or neighbors of an applicant).

This complicated and lengthy procedure was practically unavailable during the quarantine restrictions in 2020-2021. After the large-scale armed aggression was unleashed on February 24, 2022, the procedure became absolutely impossible. Young Ukrainian citizens, who lived in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Donetsk region, and Luhansk region, do not have an opportunity to leave for the government-controlled territory due to active hostilities. Therefore, in order to save their lives, avoid mobilization or conscription into the enemy’s army, and get an education, they began to leave for third countries having birth certificates issued in Ukraine and to apply to foreign diplomatic missions of Ukraine. The missions refuse to issue them a certificate for returning to Ukraine, referring to the impossibility of identifying an applicant as a Ukrainian citizen.

Currently, thousands of young Ukrainian citizens have not received a passport of Ukrainian citizen and are actually deprived of the opportunity to obtain one due to the conditions of occupation. Due to their age (these are people aged 18–25) and long-term residence in the occupied territory, they do not have documents with photo cards, which are usually required to issue a passport of Ukrainian citizen after reaching the age of 18. There is no data on them in the Unified State Demographic Register and the State Register of Voters, they do not have driver’s licenses or pension certificates. Most often, all they have is a birth certificate of Ukrainian citizen, copies of passports of their parents or one of them (or only information about their parents), and documents issued during the occupation, which are not recognized by Ukraine. However, such people are Ukrainian citizens who need support from their country, especially in a situation when they find themselves in the territory of third countries.

This problem, which has existed since the very beginning of the armed aggression against Ukraine, is very acute now. Obtaining documents to return to Ukraine, be issued a passport of Ukrainian citizen are directly related to the possibility of obtaining temporary protection granted to Ukrainian citizens.

Petition “Youth from temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine requests to simplify procedure for obtaining passport of Ukrainian citizen for the first time after reaching the age of 18” has been registered on the website of electronic petitions to the President of Ukraine.

The problem is widespread and acute, so we ask you as soon as possible to:

• Initiate drafting and adopting amendments to Procedure for drawing up, issuing, exchanging, sending, withdrawing, returning to the state, invalidating, and destroying a passport of Ukrainian citizen, approved by Resolution No. 302 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of March 25, 2015, to launch a separate simplified procedure for identifying Ukrainian citizens who permanently lived in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine
• Initiate drafting and adopting amendments to Procedure for drawing up and issuing an identity card for returning to Ukraine, approved by Resolution No. 285 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of April 5, 2017, to launch a simplified procedure for issuing an identity card to persons, who permanently lived in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, to return to Ukraine
• Ensure through foreign diplomatic missions regular (monthly) collection of data on the number of requests for documents to return to Ukraine filed by Ukrainian citizens, who lived in the temporarily occupied territory and left for the territory of third countries after the beginning of large-scale armed aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the number of refusals in processing and issuing documents and the number of processed and issued documents for this category of Ukrainian citizens

Human Rights Centre ZMINA

NGO “Donbas SOS”

Crimean Human Rights Group

Charity Foundation Stabilization Support Services

Vostok SOS Charity Foundation

NGO “CrimeaSOS”

Charitable Foundation “The Right to Protection”

NGO “Public holding “Group of Influence