I INTRODUCTION According to data from the latest census, there are 47,587 Roma in Ukraine.3 On the other hand, the Council of Europe estimates that the number of Roma in Ukraine is between 120,000 and 400,000, with an average estimate of 260,000.4 Estimates from local Roma non-governmental organizations (NGOs) assert that Roma mostly populate the Transcarpathia, Donetsk, Lugansk, Odesa, Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Cherkassy and Poltava regions.5 Roma constitute a very heterogeneous community in Ukraine, being divided into several sub-groups according to certain characteristics, such as the region where they live. Some Roma communities have established a considerably integrated life living amongst the mainstream population, while those who live segregated in urban or semi-urban districts or in rural areas particularly face deplorable living conditions and exclusion and marginalization from education, employment and social services. Roma continue to be one of the most discriminated national minorities in Ukraine,6 and lack of access to personal documents remains one of the most pressing human rights dilemmas Roma are experiencing there.7 Problems with access to personal documents disproportionately affect the most disadvantaged members of the community. The lack of official data, and consequently the lack of disaggregated data,8 as well as the fact that there is no solid assessment about the situation of Roma without personal documents, both present a major hurdle to taking a more systematic approach towards solving this issue. This situation also prevents the authorities from tackling the root causes of the social exclusion of Roma in Ukraine. However, the adoption and implementation of specifically-designed, more flexible solutions to the problem of Roma access to personal documents should not be understood by the Ukrainian authorities as somehow exceeding what is generally required. Rather, such solutions should be perceived as specific measures for implementing their alreadyexisting human rights commitments as envisaged in the relevant public policies9. 3 “National composition of population”, State Statistics Committee of Ukraine, 2001, <http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/>. See also “Situation Assessment Report on Roma in Ukraine and the Impact of the Current Crisis” (hereinafter: Assessment Report), OSCE/ODIHR, August 2014, p. 11, <http://www.osce.org/odihr/124494>. 4 As estimated by the World Romani Union and local Roma NGOs. The figures are taken from a document prepared by the Council of Europe Roma and Travellers Division, “Estimates on Roma population in European countries”, <http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/romatravellers/default_en.asp>, cited from: Assessment Report, op. cit., note 3. 5 Assessment Report, op. cit., note 3. 6 Roma are “believed to be the group which experiences most societal discrimination in Ukraine”, see, e.g. “Country Policy and Information Note, Ukraine, Minority Groups”, United Kingdom, Home Office, ver. 1.0, January 2017, paras. 2.2.6–2.2.7, <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukraine-country-policy-and-information-notes>. 7 “Written Comments of the European Roma Rights Centre and Chiricli, Concerning Ukraine for Consideration by the Human Rights Committee at its 108th Session (8-26 July 2013)”, June 2013, p. 6-8, <http://www.errc.org/uploads/upload_en/file/ukraine-iccpr-june-2013.pdf>. 8 See, e.g. “Concluding observations on the twenty-second and twenty-third periodic reports of Ukraine”, UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, October 2016, para. 6, UN Doc. No. CERD/C/UKR/CO/22-23; “Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of Ukraine”, UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, June 2014, para. 8, UN Doc. No. E/C.12/UKR/CO/6; “Consideration of reports submitted by States Parties under article 44 of the Convention, Concluding observations: Ukraine”, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, April 2011, para. 9, UN Doc. No. CRC/C/UKR/CO/3-4. 9 See, e.g. Ukrainian national strategies related to Roma access to personal documents, pp. 24-25 of this report. 15