THE PROBLEM OF STATELESSNESS IN UKRAINE AND THE WAYS OF ADDRESSING IT
legislative amendments, they will not be able to change the general situation
without the development of relevant strategies that would combine both practical
and legislative approaches.
Considering the fact that the real scale of statelessness in Ukraine is currently
unknown, while the statistics provided by the State Border Guard Service and the
State Migration Service of Ukraine give clearly an incomplete idea of the scope
of statelessness, there is a need to determine the extent of the problem more
precisely. This could take place through a study, first of all on the regional level,
in such oblasts as Odessa oblast, where preliminary data show a great number
of persons with Soviet-era passports, and Zakarpatya oblast, where Ukraine’s
largest group of the Roma lives, among them possibly stateless persons and
persons at risk of statelessness. The study could provide for dissemination of
questionnaires with the mediation of the State Migration Service bodies on the
ground and of non-governmental organizations that provide legal aid to stateless
persons, asylum-seekers, refugees and persons in need of complementary
protection. Based on the results of such a survey, one will be able to make a
conclusion on the profile of stateless persons, on their age and gender, typical
causes of statelessness, problems they faced trying to obtain documents, levels
of awareness on their legal status, and an estimate of the number of such persons
in that particular oblast. Depending on the efficiency of the regional study, it will
be possible to plan a larger-scale campaign that would cover all oblasts of Ukraine
and also enable determining the geographical location of stateless persons and
persons at risk of stateless in combination with breakdown by category.
More specific goals can also be set for the campaign, such as determination
of the numbers of persons having only the ex-USSR passports, persons who
lost their ex-USSR passports, those who entered Ukraine prior to their majority
based on a birth certificate and who have no identity papers, and children living
in children’s homes at penal institutions whose birth has not been registered.
In the Ukrainian reality, the most efficient lobby would be to combine the efforts
of the UNHCR office in Ukraine and a number of non-governmental organizations
that render legal aid to stateless persons, asylum-seekers, refugees and persons
in need of complementary protection in Ukraine.
Amendments are recommended for the following laws:
The Law of Ukraine on the Legal Status of Foreigners and Stateless Persons.
First of all, the current wording of this Law does not provide a minimum
package of rights to stateless persons, contrary to requirements of the 1954
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