UKRAINE 2019 UNHCR PARTICIPATRY ASSESSMENT Undocumented Roma displaced by the conflict are in a legal limbo and must frequently change their residence. They say they face discrimination from the SMS and the local community. Since most are illiterate, they engage mainly in seasonal work on farms. Their children have no access to kindergartens/schools, and the women have no access to social payments or health care. UNHCR meets with IDP Roma women during focus group discussion in Zolotonosha Town in Cherkasy Oblast in Central Ukraine. The discussions took place in a Roma Community center run by the Roma NGO Ame-Roma with which UNHCR is frequently cooperating. UNHCR supported the community center in 2017. One of the main challenges mentioned by the women was the safety of their children and their difficult socio-economic situation. Photo: Crimea SOS. DID YOU KNOW For various reasons (poverty, illiteracy, early marriages, low awareness of parents, inaccessibility of state’s free legal aid), many ethnic Roma face difficulties in obtaining birth certificates for their children born in Ukraine. As a result, when they grow up, they cannot obtain a Ukrainian passport. Most Roma in Zakarpatska oblast speak Hungarian and do not know the Ukrainian language, which makes it more difficult for them to approach the local authorities for documentation. Housing is a concern for stateless persons and persons at risk of statelessness in Ukraine, in particular for Roma. In Zakarpatska oblast, many Roma reside in houses which have no access to sewage and water systems. The land on which houses have been built is usually not recognized as their property and, as a result, many cannot register their residence. The lack of passports and residence registration makes it impossible for undocumented Roma and homeless people to conclude agreements with family doctors, which is a precondition to access health care. In Kharkiv, Roma participants mentioned that they were discriminated against on the labour market, some even mentioned difficulties in ensuring access to school for their children. “I really want to go to kindergarten. There, I will probably eat regularly.” Child from the Roma community Durable Solutions In order to achieve durable solutions, persons at risk of statelessness identified documentation as the most important priority. This would open possibilities for housing and employment. Participants wish to get free legal aid from the state-run Free Legal Aid Centers so that they can obtain the necessary documentation and mistakes in their civil documents can be corrected. Participants highlighted the financial barriers to accessing documentation, since they said they did not have money to pay for DNA tests, consular fees for passport issuance, and court fees for establishing legal facts. Housing and employment were the other priorities of persons at risk of statelessness. Undocumented individuals are 10