Street Roots • April 17-23, 2015
REFUGEES, fro m page 7
etc. The territories controlled by the
separatists became criminalized with
appearance of marauders and the other
outlaws. Cases of illegal “confiscation” of
the property became a widespread
phenomenon.
In this situation, the local inhabitants had
to migrate from those territories. Some of
them went to Russia, as they had relatives
there. The majority moved to the other
regions of Ukraine, mainly the nearby
regions of Kharkiv and Dnepropetrovsk,
also to central and western Ukraine.
According to the official statistics, by
April 6, there were 1.2 million internally
displaced persons from both the Crimea
and Donbas (southeast) regions. These are
those officially registered at the new place
of living. Over 300,000 of those have
applied for the financial aid from the
government. The Ministry of Social Policy
of Ukraine has already paid over 890 million
UAH (around $35.5 million) for that
purpose.
In all the other regions of Ukraine, both
governmental social services and voluntary
initiatives are now focused on the refugees,
helping them with food, finding living
accommodations and jobs.
However, in the present harsh economic
situation in Ukraine — involved into a
military conflict - this is very difficult.
“We aré squeezing our economics for the
security of our country,” says President
Petro Poroshenko. Indeed, this year the
government financing of the military
security sector hit record numbers in all the
years of Ukraine’s independence.
In the country, there are voluntary
initiatives providing help specifically for the
internal refugees and those who are still
surviving in the war areas. The biggest aid
center is perhaps the one in Kiev. It started
a bit over six months ago. It’s where
internal refugees, particularly mothers with
children, can get food, clothes and
household items sent from different parts of
the world. This project has quickly become
well known. The place is visited by around
100 persons every day. Some of the
products are also transported to the eastern
towns, controlled by the government’s
Page 13
News
troops. The project’s Facebook page is
actively filled with requests for the most
urgent needs of the refugees at the
moment, which can sometimes be clothes
and food; at other times, Pampers, prams or
medical equipment Many Ukrainians are
actively involved, bringing clothes and the
other things, or sending money. The
president’s wife recently paid a visit to this
center, bringing presents for the refugees’
children. So far, this is the only government
support for this initiative. Its organizers say
the most of their needs are covered by local
businesses, people and humanitarian aid
trucks from private persons, and by
initiatives of the EU countries, particularly
Denmark.
Valentina Kravets, a social worker of the
NGO Spilnota NDKiev that, for a decade,
provided food and basic hygiene items for
the poor and the homeless in the streets of
Kiev, says there are changes in the profile
of people coming to their meals-on-wheels
place near the Kiev main railway station.
Recently, it was mostly middle-aged men
and elderly women, and now there are
younger people, and more of those are from
the eastern parts of the country, regions of
Luhansk and Donetsk..
Of course, not every one of those
internally displaced needs for government
aid. There are those who manage on their
own.
Marina, a mother of a teenage son,
moved to the western Ukrainian city of
Chernivtsi a few months ago from Antratzit,
a town in Luhansk region, now under the
terrorists’ control. Marina’s husband is
“fighting at war” in the southeast. She was
invited to come to Chernivtsi by her friends.
Marina is renting a one-room apartment
in the suburb for 2,500 UAH ($100) per
month. She makes soap and natural
cosmetics at home, runs an Internet shop
and sells her products at the fairs of
handmade goods. It is just enough to cover
her rent and food for the family.
The woman expects to come home to
Luhansk one day, together with her
husband. She doesn’t think it will happen
. soon though, as restoring and repairing her
hometown after the war will take a lot of
time.
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