In a press release [UN press release] issued on Friday, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyan [official profile], called upon Ukrainian officials to develop a comprehensive plan to address internally displaced persons (IDP), and provide durable solutions to the issue. Beyani urged the government “to intensify its efforts to protect the rights of IDPs from the conflict affected east of the country and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.” Despite commending the improvements the Ukraine has made, including adopting a law on internal displacement and creating a government agency who’s sole function is to address this problem, the rights expert said that “more needs to be done to effectively implement the law and harmonise the resolutions under the law,” and coordinate efforts between national agencies and local and municipal authorities. In particular, Beyani expressed dissatisfaction with the current registration system, the inefficiency of which has led to depriving IDPs of their pension and social payments. Beyani also discussed the concern with overall freedom of movement hampered by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Finally, the rights expert identified the need for durable housing, calling it a “key element of solution[].”

Russia and Ukraine have been in conflict since the annexation of Crimea [JURIST backgrounder] in March 2014. In July AI and HRW released the 56-page report detailing how Ukrainian government officials and Russia-backed separatists in the Ukraine have subjected citizen to “prolonged, arbitrary detention,” torture, or other forms of inhumane treatment, including refusing necessary medical attention [JURIST report]. In June the UN human rights office reported that the human rights situation in Ukraine remains troublesome [JURIST report] following two years of conflict with Russia. In February Russia filed suit [JURIST report] against Ukraine over Ukraine’s default on $3 billion in bonds. A Ukrainian official said in January that the nation plans to sue Russia [JURIST report] in the International Court of Justice on claims of financing terrorism. Last August a Russian military court sentenced [JURIST report] two Ukrainian activists to substantial jail time for the charge of conspiring to commit terror attacks. In March of last year the EU committed to stand by its policy of refusing to recognize Crimea’s annexation [JURIST report].