29-05-2013
In June 2011, Supreme Council of Ukraine passed the law of Ukraine “About refugees and persons in need of subsidiary or temporary protection” that specifies the conditions and order of protection granting to asylum seekers. Correspondingly to the mentioned Law, refugee status in Ukraine is granted to persons who stay beyond the borders of the country of their citizenship belonging and cannot enjoy the protection of these countries due to grounded fears to become a victim of persecution as to signs of race, religion, nationality, citizenship, belonging to certain social group or political beliefs.
Subsiriary protection is granted to persons who are not refugees according to Refugee Convention of 1951, however they need protection as they have had to arrive to Ukraine or stay in Ukraine because of threat to their lives, safety or freedom in the country of their origin owing to fear of being applied a death punishment or sentence implementation on death punishment or tortures, inhuman or a such that humiliates the dignity, treatment or punishment.
According to the Law refugee or a person in need of subsidiary protection cannot be recognized, besides person that does not correspond to above mentioned criteria as well as person committed of non-political character beyond the borders of Ukraine or that one who before arrival to Ukraine with intention to be recognized as a refugee or person in need of subsidiary protection stayed in a third safe country.
It is worth to mention that above mentioned terms on protection granting correspond to 1951 Convention on Refugee Status and world standards in this field. During the consideration of application on protection granting, the staff of Migration Service checks the truthness of given information by the person and presence of reasons to provide with protection in Ukraine.
There are no any documents that will give the opportunity to apply different legal standards during consideration of applications of asylum seekers depending on the country of their citizenship belonging.
Thus, the order of application consideration and making decision on protection granting is unitary for all citizens from all over the world and giving any advantages to representatives of certain countries is impossible.
According to the order of MOI of Ukraine from 07.09.2011 # №649, body of Migration Service accepts national passport or any other document identifying the personality of the applicant for reservation together with application on refugee status granting or person in need of subsidiary protection. In accordance with the Articles 8 and 10 of the Law, return of specified documents is carried out in case of reject to the applicant in processing documents and in case if SMS of Ukraine makes decision on reject in recognition as refugee or person in need of subsidiary protection.
Thus, according to the legislation, Migration Service keeps passport documents of all asylum seekers without exception until their applications are completed to be considered. Analogous practice exists in other states as well as in the member-states of European Union.
Altogether, in the course of the year 2012 Migration Service of Ukraine received 1573 applications on protection granting. 152 persons were granted refugee status or subsidiary protection, out of them there were 53 migrants from Afghanistan, 45 from Somalia, 18 – from Syria, 10 – from Iraq. The number of representatives of other countries was not exceeded 10. Besides, the citizens from CIS countries were granted protection in Ukraine, namely 6 persons from Azerbaijan, 1 – from Russia, 1 – from Belarus, 1 – from Kyrgyzstan and 1 from Armenia.
By the beginning of the year 2013, there were 2435 officially recognized refugees in Ukraine including 107 citizens of Russia.