An urgent call to Europe and its partners: envisioning immediate and long-term policy solutions in support of the displaced people of Ukraine
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly
debate on 27 June 2024 (21st sitting) (see Doc. 16002, report of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Displaced Persons, rapporteur: Ms Lise Selnes). Text adopted by the Assembly on
27 June 2024 (21st sitting).
1. The Parliamentary Assembly is appalled
by the continuing full-scale war of aggression by the Russian Federation
against Ukraine and deeply saddened by its devastating consequences.
The mass killings, destruction, abductions and constant terror to
which the people of Ukraine are subjected must stop immediately.
History has demonstrated many times that no State or empire can
last when it imposes its power through the means of military coercion.
Council of Europe member States should stay united in expressing
their resolute condemnation of the Russian dictatorial regime’s
aggressive stand against its neighbours and Europe as a whole.
2. Since the start of the high-intensity military aggression
by the Russian Federation on 24 February 2022, millions of Ukrainians
have left their homes, seeking refuge. By the end of February 2024,
two years later, more than 5.9 million Ukrainian citizens have moved
to Europe and more than 500 000 have moved outside Europe, according
to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In
addition, in Ukraine, there are about 5 million internally displaced
persons (IDPs).
3. The Assembly underscores that keeping a human-centred approach
in policy making in times of crisis is crucial. Bearing in mind
the importance of finding the right balance between protecting civilians
affected by the war and enhancing the capacity of the State to defend
itself when its existence is under threat, appropriate consideration
should be given to the effect of measures taken on Ukraine’s population,
overall. The lives and dignity of millions of people depend on that.
4. The Assembly underscores the need to provide adequate protection
to help the people of Ukraine to come through the pain and suffering,
the challenges that forced them to leave their homes, local communities and
country. States should do their utmost to assist Ukraine to support
its people, wherever they are: inside Ukraine, fighting to protect
the integrity of their country, or abroad, in Europe or elsewhere.
In particular, more needs to be done to free those who are held
in captivity or who have been deported to the occupying State.
5. The Assembly praises the Council of Europe member States that
took immediate action to protect the people who fled the deadly
attacks by the Russian Federation. It welcomes the solidarity demonstrated
by the European Union member States, which enabled the presence
on their territory of about 4.5 million people at the end of February
2024, based on European Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July
2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the
event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting
a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons
and bearing the consequences thereof (hereinafter “the Temporary
Protection Directive”). However, given that the Russian Federation’s
war of aggression against Ukraine continues, millions of Ukrainians
are still unable to return home. Therefore, the Assembly calls upon
European Union member States to enable the prolongation of the duration of
the initially agreed temporary protection, or the opening of new
avenues for allowing a regular and legally certain presence of peoples
of Ukraine on their territory with access to rights available for
asylum seekers. The non-European Union Council of Europe member
States are encouraged to implement similar measures.
6. The Assembly will follow closely the developments in Ukraine
with a view to assisting specific groups of people, step by step.
This Resolution sets the scene for future targeted actions specific
to each group: internally displaced persons, those who fled the
war of aggression and are now under temporary protection in Europe, and
those who were forcibly displaced or deported to the Russian Federation
and Belarus, including prisoners of war.
7. Regarding the internally displaced
persons in Ukraine, the Assembly notes that not everyone
could or was willing to leave the country seeking safety. Many stayed
in Ukraine to defend their country and support their loved ones
at the front, sometimes by paying the highest price.
8. The Assembly should act resolutely to contribute to the protection
of IDPs in Ukraine. It calls for the rapid provision of sufficient
humanitarian support to ensure that IDPs in Ukraine are safe and
protected. The Assembly welcomes the European Union’s contribution
to humanitarian support to Ukraine. It notes that, on 20 March 2024,
the European Commission paid the first €4.5 billion of support under
the European Union’s new Ukraine Facility. This payment will ensure
that Ukraine can continue paying salaries and pensions and providing
basic public services so that the country can focus its efforts
on winning the war.
9. The Assembly deplores the challenges faced by the internally
displaced children, who are further traumatised by the constant
bombing by the Russian Federation. Specific protection measures
must be put in place for them, as mentioned in
Resolution 2529 (2024) and
Recommendation 2265 (2024) “Situation
of the children of Ukraine”, and
Resolution 2448 (2022) “Humanitarian
consequences and internal and external displacement in connection
with the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine”.
10. The Assembly calls upon member States’ parliaments to enhance
their political support to meet the objectives of the humanitarian
response plan for Ukraine, with a specific emphasis on the needs
of internally displaced children and their families. It has been
estimated that a total sum of about US$5 billion is needed to support
war-affected communities in Ukraine, and Ukrainian refugees and
their host communities in the region throughout 2024.
11. The implementation of Ukraine’s State policy on internal displacement
for the period until 2025 should be given the necessary funding
and operational support. Adequately protected shelters must be available
and made known to IDPs, who are not always familiar with their new
residence areas inside Ukraine. Priorities should include free legal
aid for accessing identity documents and civil status documents
to enable displaced persons to gain access to their rights, support
and services. In addition, support to volunteers and humanitarian organisations,
including civil society organisations and other local groups working
in Ukraine, must be enhanced so that they can continue assisting
IDPs.
12. The Assembly welcomes the declaration adopted by the Congress
of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe on 26
March 2024, in which it “calls on European cities and regions to
continue mobilising and providing large-scale financial, security
and humanitarian assistance to their Ukrainian counterparts, and invites
European cities and regions to explore possibilities to establish
direct, multi-faceted partnerships with Ukrainian cities and regions,
ideally with a long-term vision, and to work to remove any bureaucratic
obstacles to this assistance”. Member States should continue providing
support for IDPs in Ukraine through co-operation programmes set
up by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and local democracy
initiatives, such as the Intercultural Cities programme of the Council
of Europe.
13. Long-term support programmes for IDPs living in Ukraine should
include financial assistance to enable access to housing, including
social housing, as well as loans for rebuilding private housing
and other support for durable housing solutions, including sustainable
reintegration into the rental market. IDPs and returnees should
be supported in having their housing, land and property rights restored.
Moreover, those IDPs wishing to start businesses in their new location
need financial support, including microfinancing or low interest-rate credit
lines. Long-term support should also encompass mental health and
psychosocial support services given the trauma the Ukrainian people
have suffered. Long-term support programmes should give specific
attention to the most vulnerable among the displaced and war-affected
people, notably older persons or persons with disabilities. The
Assembly welcomes Ukraine’s accession, in July 2023, to the Council
of Europe Development Bank (CEB), which enables the CEB to provide
grant funds for emergency assistance and the long-term integration
of Ukrainian refugees in host communities, as well as specific actions
for IDPs in Ukraine.
14. The Assembly highlights the importance of intensified efforts
to help Ukraine defend itself and maintain and rebuild its society,
with the aim of increasing its strength and resilience for present
and future challenges. Investing in Ukraine’s resilience now amounts
to investing in making Europe as a whole stronger, with a better protected
Eastern border, following the decisions of the European Union to
grant Ukraine candidate status for accession. The measures stipulated
in Assembly
Resolution
2539 (2024) and
Recommendation
2271 (2024) “Support for the reconstruction of Ukraine”
provide an excellent blueprint for action.
15. As regards the externally displaced
persons under temporary protection in Europe, the Assembly welcomes
the European Union’s decision to activate the Temporary Protection
Directive for Ukraine. It supports the proposals to either prolong
the validity of the directive, which is due to expire in March 2025,
or to identify a longer-term residency solution for Ukraine’s citizens
currently living on territory of the European Union, while ensuring
and safeguarding the capacity of Ukraine to continue to defend itself
and to rebuild its society, counting on the participation of its
citizens including those now out of the country.
16. The Assembly reaffirms the rights of all individuals, including
the temporary protection beneficiaries, to apply for asylum at any
point as protected under international and European Union laws,
and affirmed by the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the
European Union.
17. To this end, European Union member States may consider granting
Ukrainians under temporary protection the right to permanent residency
in the host country after a three-year period of residence, regardless
of age, gender, disability, religion or other circumstances. The
Assembly welcomes the decisions in this direction taken under the
national legal systems by some non-European Union Council of Europe
member States. As regards Ukrainians who have changed their country
of asylum, States could similarly grant permanent residency in the
new host country, after reaching a three-year period of residence,
provided that such term is considered sufficient for integration
into a new place of residence by the host country.
18. The future of the Ukrainian population which has sought safety
in other European countries should be considered from the long-term
perspective of future membership of the country in the European
Union. Granting long-term residence to these future European Union
citizens would allow them to integrate faster and be better able
to contribute to strengthening the European Union as a whole, especially
in the face of the geopolitical challenges of our continent today
following the Russian aggression.
19. As regards access to the labour market, the Assembly reiterates
its call for policy planning aimed at creating job opportunities
for newly arrived persons, in accordance with Assembly
Resolution 2502 (2023) “Integration
of migrants and refugees: benefits for all parties involved”. Council
of Europe member States are encouraged to step up efforts to ensure
suitable opportunities and to recognise qualifications obtained
in Ukraine, providing where necessary continued education to enhance
qualifications in accordance with the legislation of the host country.
20. The Assembly welcomes the measures to facilitate access to
employment and social security schemes open under the Temporary
Protection Directive (Article 12), which stipulates that “[t]he
general law in force in the Member States applicable to remuneration,
access to social security systems relating to employed or self-employed
activities and other conditions of employment shall apply”.
21. The Assembly calls upon member States to ensure adequate protection
for people with disabilities who had to leave Ukraine and are now
under temporary protection in Europe. Mutual recognition of disability
status, degree of disability, and medical and disability certificates
is essential. States should also enable access to adequate social
protection and rehabilitation programmes for those in need of support.
22. The Assembly highlights the importance of creating opportunities
for the displaced people of Ukraine to preserve and promote their
cultural heritage. Bearing in mind
Resolution 2558 (2024) “Countering
the erasure of cultural identity in war and peace”, the Assembly
recommends that member States hosting temporarily displaced persons
from Ukraine:
22.1 facilitate their
access to their own heritage, encouraging cultural exchange programmes, partnerships,
joint artistic collaborations and the organisation of cultural festivals
and exhibitions;
22.2 provide support and resources for artists, writers, musicians
and other cultural professionals by funding initiatives, grants
and residency programmes;
22.3 promote the Ukrainian language by supporting independent
publishers and translations of Ukrainian literature and by setting
up dedicated bookshelves in libraries.
23. As regards, in particular, support
for Ukraine’s children living abroad, States could do
more to better regulate, in the host countries, the residency, movement
and protection of the rights of the children of Ukraine. Special
attention should be paid to children without parents and children
who have moved with guardians or caregivers, to ensure their rights
to access education, medical care and social support according to
their age and life circumstances. In that regard, the Assembly calls
upon member States to implement the decisions agreed upon in
Resolution 2529 (2024) and
Recommendation 2265 (2024) “Situation
of the children of Ukraine”.
24. States should give immediate priority to ensure the teaching
of the Ukrainian language to Ukrainian children in educational institutions,
given the role played by language in supporting national identity.
States should enhance the capacity of their education systems to
allow for the integration of Ukrainian pupils and students into
the European education system, enabling the mutual recognition of
qualifications and diplomas. Co-operation must be enhanced to ensure
recognition of the results obtained in the Ukrainian education system
by European countries, at an equivalent level. In case of discrepancies
in educational programmes, States could provide additional courses
to reach a comparable level, thereby enabling the recognition of education
obtained in Ukraine.
25. States can foster technical co-operation between experts from
the Council of Europe member States in order to finetune policies
and practices for the protection of the rights of children of Ukraine
residing on their territory, including by taking part in the work
of the Council of Europe Consultation Group on the Children of Ukraine.
The consultation group was established as a follow-up to the Reykjavik
Declaration “United around our values”, adopted at the 4th Summit
of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe, held
on 16 and 17 May 2023.
26. Moreover, as regards support for
Ukraine’s elderly people living abroad, the Assembly
notes that many elderly people had to flee Ukraine and are now living
abroad in a situation of extreme vulnerability. While recognising
the additional demands this places on the social security systems
of host countries, the Assembly considers that States can identify
the means to support vulnerable elderly Ukrainians, as recommended
by the Temporary Protection Directive (Article 13), which stipulates
that “Member States shall make provision for persons enjoying temporary
protection to receive necessary assistance in terms of social welfare
and means of subsistence, if they do not have sufficient resources,
as well as for medical care … the assistance necessary for medical
care shall include at least emergency care and essential treatment
of illness”.
27. Granting Ukrainian pensioners the status of pensioner in the
host country with the provision of the necessary social welfare
support, albeit temporarily, would allow for dignified living for
those who suffer severe hardship, having lost all their livelihoods
and having no time, energy or resources to recover and rebuild their lives
from scratch.
28. Helping Ukraine’s older generation would also facilitate the
transmission of culture and identity to the younger generation.
Without such efforts, the younger Ukrainians now living outside
the country may lose their ties with their home, weakening the future
of Ukraine after the war has ended. More should be done, therefore, to
promote intergenerational solidarity to help Ukraine stand strong
for the years to come.
29. With regard to mirroring European
Union actions in the non-European Union Council of Europe member States,
the Assembly notes the efforts to welcome the externally displaced
persons in those non-European Union Council of Europe member States
which provided immediate protection and temporary shelter for hundreds
of thousands of Ukrainians, despite the challenges that many of
these countries face in terms of emergency housing capacity or relief
support. The Assembly welcomes the participation of non-European Union
member States in the continued relief work and refugee resettlement
schemes, finding appropriate solutions for millions of Ukrainian
people displaced beyond the European Union.
30. With regard to facilitating return
and resettlement, the Assembly recommends that specific
actions be taken to prepare a return to Ukraine after the war, as
referred to in the Temporary Protection Directive (Article 21),
which states that the “Member States shall take the measures necessary
to make possible the voluntary return of persons enjoying temporary
protection or whose temporary protection has ended. The Member States shall
ensure that the provisions governing voluntary return of persons
enjoying temporary protection facilitate their return with respect
for human dignity.”
31. The Assembly notes that the return of displaced persons to
their homes cannot happen overnight and may require years of preparation,
which should start already now. Return will certainly involve the
provision of financial assistance for resettlement, and the question
of resettlement and reintegration allowances over a given period
will need to be settled.
32. The Assembly recommends initiating programmes to help the
Ukrainian diaspora support or maintain connections with Ukraine
in host countries by establishing Ukrainian cultural centres, promoting
language learning, culture, history and fostering co-operation within
the Ukrainian community to enable future returns. The provisions
of Assembly
Resolution
2388 (2021) and
Recommendation
2207 (2021) “For a European policy on diasporas” can
guide these efforts.
33. The Assembly is highly concerned about the fate of the Ukrainians
who are now on the territory of the Russian Federation and Belarus,
as a result of forcible displacement or deportation. It reiterates
its call to take urgent measures to liberate these persons, as stressed
in its
Resolution 2495
(2023) and
Recommendation 2253
(2023) “Deportations and forcible transfers of Ukrainian
children and other civilians to the Russian Federation or to temporarily
occupied Ukrainian territories: create conditions for their safe
return, stop these crimes and punish the perpetrators”. The Assembly
calls once more on the Russian Federation to release immediately
all persons taken by force to the Russian Federation or elsewhere.
34. The Assembly takes note of the Committee of Ministers’ reply
to
Recommendation 2253
(2023), highlighting the importance of the work of the
Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the need to
ensure co-operation with the relevant United Nations bodies, notably
the Committee on the Rights of the Child. It is also important to
involve the United Nations Human Rights Council and seek answers
regarding the whereabouts of the missing Ukrainian persons, including
those who have been forcibly displaced.
35. As regards the forcibly displaced
children of Ukraine, the Assembly notes that the children
of Ukraine have suffered incredible hardship since the beginning
of the Russian Federation’s aggression. Specific measures must be
put in place to help children retained in the Russian Federation
to be reunited with their family in Ukraine or elsewhere in Europe,
as underscored by the Assembly in its
Resolution 2529 (2024) and
Recommendation 2265 (2024) “Situation
of the children of Ukraine”. Children without parental care must
be returned to Ukraine or, with Ukraine’s agreement, to another
Council of Europe member State. The return of children without parental
care needs to be based on the best interests of these children,
assessed on an individual basis.
36. In its
Resolution
2529 (2024), the Assembly reiterated its call on the
Russian Federation and Belarus to “provide the Ukrainian authorities
or a third party (a State or an international organisation) with
comprehensive and reliable information about the number and the
whereabouts of Ukrainian children in this situation, their names
and surnames, their origin and the destination of the deportation,
in order to ensure their safe return to Ukraine”; and to “provide
representatives of the relevant United Nations bodies and other
international humanitarian intervention and human rights protection
organisations, such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF),
the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Office
of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights) and
other competent United Nations agencies, and the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) with unhindered, immediate and safe access
to the children”.
37. The Assembly underscores the need to enhance co-operation
between various organisations to help return forcibly displaced
children. Third-party interventions can offer guarantees of impartiality
and effectiveness. It is crucial to have access to the territories
of the Russian Federation, Belarus and occupied territories of Ukraine
to speed up the process of identification, location and repatriation
of deported and forcibly transferred Ukrainian children.
38. The Assembly stands ready to continue its role as a facilitator
in communicating with different international actors and organisations
that operate for an effective search for children, based on access
to information about their identity and the conditions of their
deportation or forcible transfer. The Assembly would, therefore,
support the possible creation of a parliamentary network on the
situation of the children of Ukraine, which would help strengthen
co-operation to protect the rights of these children.
39. As regards the Ukrainian prisoners
of war, the Assembly should address this issue and the
efforts deployed to negotiate their release as a matter of urgency.
The bogus trials opened by the occupying forces of the Russian Federation
against Ukrainian prisoners of war should be halted, as they are
unlawful under international humanitarian and human rights law,
not meeting the minimum international standards of fairness. The
Assembly calls for the immediate release and return to Ukraine of
the 33 Ukrainian soldiers sentenced to long-term sentences in a
penal colony after unlawful trials on 8 February 2024 by the so-called
“Supreme Court” of the “Luhansk People’s Republic” in Russian-occupied
Luhansk.
40. The Assembly calls upon the Russian Federation to refrain
from taking measures that run counter to the Geneva Conventions
I-IV and their additional protocols. The Assembly strongly supports
measures taken to allow for the exchange of prisoners of war to
prevent further violence. The killings by the Russian Federation’s military
of unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war in Avdiivka and the village
of Vesele demonstrated the most cruel and inhuman behaviour by the
Russian Federation’s army and its sub-contracted military groups:
such blatant disregard by the Russian Federation of international
humanitarian law should not be overlooked by the international community.
41. Following the Assembly members’ Written declaration No. 778
(
Doc. 15790)
of 5 June 2023, “Call on the International Committee of the Red
Cross and the international community to demand that the Russian Federation
fully complies with the international humanitarian law concerning
the Ukrainian prisoners of war”, the Assembly reminds the Russian
Federation that the rules and customs of war agreed upon in codified international
humanitarian law must be respected by all to ensure that atrocities
committed in times of war in the past are not reproduced.
42. The Assembly calls upon all parties to the conflict to take
measures to establish the whereabouts of missing persons. Helping
families find their loved ones, or start their process of grieving
if their loved ones have perished in the war, is essential for future
reconciliation. More needs to be done to assist families in that process.
Humanitarian organisations should be allowed to provide adequate
support on this issue.
43. Finally, the Assembly reiterates its readiness to assist Ukraine
in creating all the conditions necessary for the displaced people
of Ukraine to feel safe and to help them return home in future to
rebuild Ukraine, so that it can stand strong in its European vocation,
and in defending the values shared by all the Council of Europe
member States.
