When a Million People Have to Flee
When you step inside Hussam Al-Yamani’s Mediterranean restaurant in Kyiv’s historical Podil district, the first thing that meets your eye is a framed certificate from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). A Syrian architect who used to work in Dubai and Damascus, Al-Yamani came to Ukraine in October 2012 to seek asylum after losing everything in the war. A small grant from the UNHCR allowed him to apply his architectural ingenuity to turning a space that consisted of little more than four concrete walls into this trendy eatery. Two and a half years later, Al-Yamani is providing employment to internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Donbas. “I escaped the violence in Syria for the peace and stability of Kyiv, only to see war come to Ukraine. I contacted UNHCR to ask if I could help. They sent me two people, one from Luhansk and one from Donetsk. Now they are working here as waiters,” he says.
Until the end of 2013, the role of the UNHCR in Ukraine was primarily to provide basic services to refugees, stateless persons or asylum seekers like Hussam. Coming from countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and the post-Soviet space, they visited the agency’s small office located next to Kyiv’s historic Lavra orthodox monastery for interviews and consultations. “Many told us it made them feel safe to be within the walls of the church,” says Nina Sorokopud, the office’s Public Information Officer.
But when the conflict in eastern Ukraine began forcing people to flee in February of last year, the UNCHR swiftly changed gears. It is now running a full-fledged emergency operation for persons seeking refuge from within the country. The headquarters in Kyiv have expanded and there is a large sub-office in Dnepropetrovsk, one of the major reception areas. The agency also works in Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mariupol and Severodonetsk and covers more regions with its implementing partners.
Volunteers
What has been remarkable about the settlement process for IDPs is the speed and efficiency with which citizens have organized themselves to assist the displaced. Much of UNHCR’s effort goes towards supporting volunteer and community-based initiatives. “Before the crisis, the prevailing attitude among Ukrainians could be summed up by the saying: ‘My house is at the end of the street, what goes on in the village doesn’t concern me.’ Against that background, I have been amazed by the response of my people,” Nina says.
She points to the large and well-functioning collection and distribution centre for IDPs on Frolivska Street in the Podil district – just a few blocks away from Hussam’s restaurant – which UNHCR supported with non food items. Two hundred visitors a day visit the building and surrounding tents to pick up food, kitchenware, bedding and children’s toys – an impressive operation run entirely by volunteers.
A similar centre in Dnepropetrovsk, run by the NGO “The Aid of Dnipro”, is not only a distribution point but also provides temporary living quarters, a registration service, counseling and accommodation referral. Over 50,000 IDPs have found help here. UNHCR is currently renovating the fifth and sixth floors with new windows, doors, wallpaper and furniture. It has also provided financial assistance. But the daily functioning of the house relies entirely on a team of dedicated volunteers, and almost all of the goods are donated by citizens. Farmers bring in fresh produce daily. Those managing the centres in Kyiv, Dnepropetrovsk and elsewhere all tell the same story: civil society support has been overwhelming, but the economic downturn in the country could make it difficult to sustain.
IDP registration
The registration of IDPs has been one of the most important civil society initiatives. The government took months to set up its own registration system, but it recognized registrations done by NGOs, which meant that displaced persons could start receiving social benefits.
UNHCR advised the government on several successive drafts of the new law on the rights and freedoms of IDPs, which came into effect 20 October 2014, and on establishing a functioning registration system. The latter has been in place since October of last year.
When the government announced its decision to pay a rent allowance to registered IDPs but delayed the beginning of payments, UNHCR helped to fill the gap, providing cash assistance to 12,000 of the most needy – disabled persons or families with small children.
In the conflict zone
One of the main activities of the UNHCR is to provide immediate humanitarian aid to persons caught in the crossfire of the conflict. “We work with NGOs and other international organizations to deliver warm jackets, blankets and kitchen sets. We help with emergency shelter repairs,” Nina says.
Much of the aid is procured locally, but one extremely important item which comes from the global stocks is special plastic sheeting used for fast repairs in conflict-affected areas. “For example, we were able to distribute it in Mariupol the day after the shelling. If your window is shattered, it’s easy to cut it and cover the opening. It can also be put on the roof,” Nina explains.
Co-operation with the OSCE
From the beginning of the crisis, UNHCR and the OSCE have co-operated very closely. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) was deployed to the field almost immediately after the outbreak of the conflict and its officers could report on the profile and routes of IDPs who were fleeing to safer parts of Ukraine or crossing the borders to neighboring countries as refugees. Based on the first-hand information shared by the OSCE monitors, UNHCR field officers were able to deliver targeted assistance and protection to persons in need.
In July 2014, Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, the Chief Monitor of the SMM, and Oldrich Andrysek, then the UNHCR Regional Representative for Ukraine, cemented the co-operation by signing an operational agreement on co-ordination and information sharing. The agreement built on a 1998 memorandum of understanding on enhancing co-operation between both Organizations.
The co-operation has been aided by a resource that UNHCR and the OSCE’s Conflict Prevention Centre developed jointly in 2013, the Protection Checklist. This practical guidebook was designed to help OSCE field staff recognize vulnerabilities of displaced populations and take action in co-operation with specialized agencies like the UNHCR. It did not remain on the bookshelves but instead has proven to be a valuable tool in Ukraine – and also in other parts of the OSCE region, for instance in Central Asia. All OSCE monitors received a hard copy upon their arrival in Ukraine, and 50 human rights focal points in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa and Lviv were given special briefings on how to use it. Meanwhile the book has been translated into Russian and is available in a pocket-sized version, with a list of useful contacts.
Using the Protection Checklist as a reference, OSCE monitors have paid particular attention to displacement issues in their daily monitoring work and incorporated them into their regular reports. During the evacuation of Debaltseve in February, for example, they created a visible international presence advocating for the safety and security of the affected population, as recommended by the guide. When visiting a camp north of Donetsk housing IDPs from Debaltseve, they followed the recommendation to pay attention to separation of family members, noting reports of elderly, sick and immobile relatives left behind.
They have drawn attention to the special needs of women and children. In Volodarske, southwest of Donetsk, they noted an increase in alcohol abuse among displaced women struggling with pressures of childcare, divorce and unemployment and severe understaffing of the local social service centre. They raised the alarm on a group of unaccompanied children evacuated from areas along the contact line in the Luhansk region who had arrived in Severodonetsk and were bound for Odessa.
Not only in the conflict area but also in western Ukraine, OSCE monitors provide valuable observations about vulnerabilities of the displaced. The team in Lviv is carefully watching how the return of soldiers from the front and the plight of families struggling with the loss of loved ones increases the potential for animosities to arise.
In spite of the impressive generosity shown by civil society, the SMM has in its recent thematic report on the impact of the crisis in western Ukraine observed a certain fatigue among communities having to shoulder the financial burden resulting from hosting displaced persons from the east. Especially for young men, it is difficult to find jobs. Employers like Hussam Al-Yamani who make a point of seeking out IDPs are more the exception than the rule. Both the UNHCR and the OSCE are watching the integration process closely and working to ease the burden, both for those who have fled the conflict and for those that receive them.