To the President of Ukraine

Dear Petro Oleksiiovych!

On October 20, 2014 Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine finally adopted the Law “On protection of rights and freedoms of IDPs”.

More than half a million of our fellow citizens who have left their homes, work, everyday life running away from the massive violations of human rights in the Crimea and the eastern Ukraine to save their lives from day to day are waiting for the entry into force of this Law. Volunteers and advocates, and the whole international community are also waiting for it. The relevant statements were made by the UN, the Council of Europe, and the European Commission. The law opens the door for an international charitable assistance to immigrants and assistance to the country in addressing this problem. Delays in the adoption of this law for a long time had a negative impact on the international image of Ukraine.

It is worth mentioning that the law was designed by the parliamentary group composed of current members of Petro Poroshenko Bloc. The lawyers of the Presidential Administration, human rights experts and NGOs dealing with immigrants, as well as consultants from the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees and the OSCE were also involved to the development of this project. The law was already praised by respected Ukrainian and international organizations.

Based on the above, we urge you as soon as possible to sign the Law “On protection of rights and freedoms of IDPs”.

Sincerely,

Oleksandra Matviichuk, the Head of the Centre for Civil Liberties, the coordinator of Euromaidan SOS

Yevhen Zakharov, the Director of Kharkiv Human Rights Group

Mykola Kozyrev, the Chairman of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union

Arkady Bushchenko, the Executive Director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union

Borys Zakharov, the Head of the Advocacy Centre of Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union

Albert Zaslavskyi, the Director of the Union of NGOs the Kyiv Human Rights House

Olha Skrypnyk, the Chairwoman of the Centre for Civic Education “Almenda”

Oleksandr Horbatko, Chief Coordinator – the Director of the HGO “Donbas SOS”