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Through hardships - to state services

October 28, 2020

The beneficiary of the Slovyansk Office of the Right to Protection CF, together with our lawyer came through a difficult and long way to obtain a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for the first time in his life.

This was the whole process: renewal of lost documents, courts, confirmation of citizenship. The final step in this case was to obtain a passport, the man had to apply to the State Migration Service of Ukraine (SMSU) in Bakhmut and provide all the documents collected within two years.

But a few days before the appointed date an accident happened to a 66-year-old man - one of his legs stopped functioning, so he lost the ability to move independently, even with a stick. Our beneficiary did not have special funds, and could not buy or receive assistance free of charge due to lack of a passport. So, as of Monday, the lawyer had to look for ways to take the man from the Chasiv Yar town (Bakhmut district) to Bakhmut and help him climb to the third floor of the SMSU department, that is not equipped for people with limited mobility and people with disabilities. Given the situation with CoVID-19, it was difficult to find transport to relocate the man, as most organizations now do not provide social support with their own transport. The search took almost two days.

The Proliska NGO responded to the request for assistance, temporarily not carrying out transportation due to CoVID-19, but they found a volunteer who took the man to the Bakhmut SMSU. A neighbor of our beneficiary also responded, who, despite the working day, accompanied him from the apartment to the Migration Service and back. In three weeks the man will have to visit the SMSU again and it is unknown what difficulties he will deal with next time.

Today, none of the departments of the State Migration Service in the north of Donetsk region, with which the representatives of the Right to Protection CF worked, are properly equipped or even not equipped at all for people with disabilities or with limited mobility. Some local offices are located on the second or even third floor of buildings, so people sometimes cannot get the necessary services at all.