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Right to Protection Held the Ensuring Access to Social Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ukraine Round Table in Kyiv
January 7, 2025
On Friday, 6 December, in Kyiv, Right to Protection held the Ensuring Access to Social Rights for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ukraine roundtable discussion. The event was conducted with the support of UNHCR.
During the roundtable, the research prepared by the Right to Protection was presented, and recommendations were discussed that could improve Ukraine's national legislation in this field and simplify access to social rights for refugees and asylum seekers.
The representatives of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the State Employment Service, the Pension Fund of Ukraine, the National Health Service of Ukraine, the Secretariat of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the State Enterprise “Information and Image Center” of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Center for Educational Quality Assessment, representatives of the Council of Europe, the Charitable Foundation “Rockada”, and the Non-government organisation “Tenth of April” joined the discussion.
Nadiya Kovalchuk, Programme Director of R2P, opened the event. She noted that the social rights of refugees and asylum seekers must always be ensured, even under martial law.
Nadiya Kovalchuk, Programme Director of R2P:
“Our research shows that despite the existence of legal guarantees, their implementation in practice faces numerous barriers. The small number of refugees and asylum seekers, the lack of clear references to these categories in the legislation, and the lack of resources create barriers to the realisation of their rights. As a result, refugees cannot always integrate into society and fully enjoy their rights.”
Social rights are fundamental universal rights for human dignity and empowerment. They include access to necessities, such as food, health, education, housing, social protection and labour rights, and are guaranteed to refugees and asylum seekers under both national and international law.
Sofiia Kordonets, Head of the Assistance to Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Stateless Persons in Ukraine programme direction of R2P:
“Refugees and persons in need of complementary protection have a wider range of social rights, which includes right to work, health care, medical care and health insurance, recreation, education, social security and housing, etc., on an equal basis with Ukrainian citizens. For asylum seekers, the range of social rights is narrower and has a sign of temporariness; that is, it is understood that asylum seekers are granted the number of rights they require while waiting for a decision on their application.”
After that, Mykola Bilousov and Anna Komziuk, Legal Analysts of the Fund's Assistance to Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ukraine programme direction, presented the study’s main results and recommendations on access to social rights for refugees and asylum seekers in Ukraine. An asylum seeker and a person in need of complementary protection also shared their experience in accessing social rights in Ukraine.
The roundtable ended with a fruitful discussion, during which the participants discussed the practical aspects of implementing the proposed recommendations and outlined key challenges and ways to overcome them.
R2P hopes that the study results will become the basis for improving legislation and practices in the field of social rights of refugees and asylum seekers, facilitating their integration and decent life in Ukraine. The study will be published after considering all the changes discussed during the roundtable.