A long queue formed at the closed door of one of Kharkiv’s Centers for the Provision of Administrative Services (CSC) under the hot June sun. Just a minute before, an air raid alert had sounded over the city, and now the entrance to the building’s premises is closed until further notice. People with the status of “internally displaced person” are waiting when they will finally be called for an appointment.
“We have been waiting since 9 in the morning and have been coming here for more than a day,” – people say from turn to turn. Many of them did not wait their turn, because the time of operation of the TsNPP ran out due to endless air alarms.
A mother and daughter are running across the street. “We ran to make a copy of the bank’s details, because we may not have time again”, – says a nervous woman as she walks.
Such and many other trials on the way to registration and registration of financial aid are now the fate of people who have been called IDPs in recent years. Left without their homes, families, belongings, having survived the horrors of shelling, they continue to go through difficult trials. Most of them are elderly people and mothers with children.
The full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine continues to make its harsh corrections in the lives of millions of Ukrainians. Destroyed housing, unstable situation with energy supply and food products, no mobile and internet connection, no transport connection with other settlements, inability to receive educational services, constant shelling leading to destruction and fires, full unemployment, tense stressful situation and constant risk to life – all these factors force people to abandon their homes, things close to their hearts and move into the unknown.
According to Iryna Vereshchuk, head of the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, as of 2024, 4.6 million internally displaced persons have been recorded in Ukraine. The demographic composition of this number is represented by the following figures: 57.3% – women, 42.7% – men, 24.4% – children (under 18 years old), 23.5% – elderly people (over 60 years old). Thus, in May, 6,500 Ukrainians were evacuated to the city of Kharkiv from the nearby territories where hostilities are taking place. In the conditions of war, when housing and workplaces are lost, and prices continue to rise against the background of all events, property inequality among the population also increases. A large number of disadvantaged Ukrainians need special care and assistance from the state. Yes, according to research “Human rights in the process of overcoming the consequences of war: the results of the survey 2024” 21% of respondents indicated that they need financial and housing assistance, 17% – medical assistance, and 11% – assistance in caring for the sick.
Cash assistance to IDPs
From May 1, 2024, the State Treasury Service of Ukraine opened an appropriation, provided by the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine for the payment of social housing assistance to internally displaced persons in full. The accounting of such strata of the population is carried out by the social protection bodies of the population.
It should be noted that since the beginning of the war, all IDPs received monthly financial assistance from the state – UAH 2,000 for adults and UAH 3,000 for children. However, from March 1, 2024, part of the displaced people lost their right to payments from the state, they were left only to certain categories of persons:
- pensioners whose pension amount does not exceed UAH 9,444 (as of January 1, 2024);
- persons with disabilities of group I or II;
- children with disabilities under the age of 18, seriously ill children;
- orphans and children deprived of parental care;
- foster parents and adoptive parents.
As Iryna Vereshchuk notes, now only those who need it receive help. At the same time, it was no longer provided to those who changed their place of residence due to the war and moved abroad, to long-term pensioners and other categories of persons. It was also decided not to pay it to those who made large purchases, for example, a car (not older than 5 years), a plot of land, an apartment, a house worth more than UAH 100,000. I wonder if many Ukrainians who have the status of IDPs can afford to make big purchases.
So, in Ukraine, as of May, 4.6 million people have the status of internally displaced persons, and only 1.5 million of them receive payments from the state. It turns out that the war continues, but many Ukrainians who need financial assistance are not receiving it now.
Providing IDPs with temporary housing
A key issue that causes fear among IDPs and does not allow them to immediately decide to evacuate is the lack of housing. According to the IOM survey, 47% of IDPs lost their homes as a result of the destruction, others left their homes, which may be destroyed at any moment. At the same time, 45% of IDPs rent housing without receiving assistance from the state.
Only in the third year of the war, in June 2024, the Ministry of Social Policy decided to provide internally displaced persons with a housing rental subsidy. This project is planned to be implemented as part of an experimental project within two years.
While the IDPs will be able to decide on housing issue, all of them are placed in dormitories. People say, “good thing it’s not in the open air“. But it is worth noting that there are no conditions for the elderly and disabled in the hostels, and it is precisely these segments of the population who arrive every day at the points of invincibility from dangerous territories.
Employment of IDPs
One of the biggest problems of internally displaced persons is difficulty in finding employment. Currently, approximately 25% have found a job, while 75% are still unemployed.
The main reasons that complicate the employment of IDPs are:
- Skills mismatch: Many IDPs are unable to find work due to a mismatch between their skills and labor market needs in the places of resettlement. For example, people who worked in factories often cannot find suitable work in agricultural regions.
- Wage expectations: IDPs often expect higher wages than the market value of their labor, which creates additional difficulties in finding employment.
- Social adaptation: IDPs often face problems of social adaptation in new places, which also affects their employment.
- Inability to get a job due to child care. Many mothers do not have the opportunity to place their children in kindergartens.
- Obstacles on the part of employers: some employers are reluctant to hire IDPs due to bureaucratic difficulties related to receiving compensation or due to inconsistencies in documents. In addition, people do not want to be hired because they perceive them as only temporary employees, and employers need permanent personnel.
Regardless, from April 1, 2024, the amount of compensation for employers who hire internally displaced persons is UAH 8,000. They are unable to employ IDPs because they are forced to close their businesses due to economic difficulties.
Social adaptation and psychological support of IDPs
Since the experienced events will resonate in people’s memory for a long time, they need social and psychological help. Volunteer and public organizations, as well as Ukrainian and international charitable foundations, undertook this difficult mission from the very beginning of the war. For example, on May 7, the first adaptation space began its work in Kharkiv.
Internally displaced persons can receive y similar organizations qualified help of a psychologist, humanitarian aid in the form of bed linen, clothes, first-aid kits, food products. Registration for receiving financial aid from the UNHCR is also carried out here. Since the beginning of the war, such organizations have been conducting training and group classes for people, providing legal advice and training for retraining.
Among the problems faced by IDPs is that their children often have a difficult time integrating into a new school, and adults face difficulties in accessing health and social services. Lack of proper documentation or ignorance of new rules and procedures can make accessing these services difficult.
IDPs often deal with psychological traumas associated with fleeing the conflict, loss of homes and loved ones. Post-traumatic stress disorder is common among immigrants, which requires qualified psychological help. In addition, they may feel isolated in new communities due to a lack of social connections and support. This leads to depression and anxiety disorders, which requires the intervention of social workers and psychologists. Several programs aimed at psychological support of IDPs operate in Ukraine. In particular, psychological services provide consultations and support, organize self-help groups and trainings to improve the psycho-emotional state of migrants, but they are not enough.
The Ukrainian government implements various programs to support IDPs. For example, public employment services provide opportunities for professional retraining and obtaining new qualifications, which contributes to better integration in the labor market. In addition, international organizations that provide humanitarian assistance and financial support to IDPs help. They also implement projects aimed at improving housing conditions, access to medical services and psychological assistance.
The life difficulties that challenge the vulnerable segments of the population cannot help but reflect on their mental and physical health. That is why the state is working on the development of special programs of medical assistance. For example, the Medical Guarantee Program for 2024 came into effect on January 1. It includes packages of medical services. Every patient, regardless of their location, has the opportunity to receive medical care and participate in the program “Available medicines”, to receive a remote consultation. However, the procedure for obtaining medical assistance is quite overloaded with a bureaucratic system of certificates and declarations. Obviously, it is difficult to collect the entire list of necessary references when the state of health is unlikely to be sufficient for such a test. Research by the World Health Organization indicates that 16% of IDPs could not use the services of a family doctor, as they were not registered at their new place of residence.
Consequently, each of the internally displaced persons faces various adaptation difficulties every day. However, it is most difficult for those who have certain health problems. Here is one example. The fate of 70-year-old Valentina from Vovchan Oblast was subjected to quite an ordeal. The woman has lost her sight with age, so she is unable to go outside. However, from the moment of her stay in her new place, she needs to open a bank account for accrual of a pension, because before the pension was brought by postal workers, and also to appear in person at the National Center for Refugees and asylum seekers to apply for IDP aid.
Constant trips to institutions and standing in queues are hardly within the power of an absolutely healthy person, and what can we say about the elderly and the disabled.
“We were lucky, when we contacted the Pension Fund by phone and when we talked with the operators of the National Center for Social Security, we met with sensitive people who came to our meeting, visited my mother and completed the registration procedure at home”, – Valentina’s daughter Yuliya told IA “FACT”.
However, such cases are rare, people are forced to face bureaucratic problems. Therefore, in the times of high technologies and inclusion processes, which are so often talked about in the country, a system of working with the disabled and the elderly should be established to protect them from standing in long lines and paperwork.
The presence of difficulties in the field of assistance with a large influx of people is a completely normal process. However, it should not remain a problem for the entire duration of the war. Therefore, the primary task of the state should be to simplify and digitize the process of providing assistance to IDPs, which will reduce the burden both on workers in the field of providing administrative services and on people affected by the war.
Only concerted action by central and local authorities, businesses, and volunteer organizations, aimed at improving, and not stagnating, the system of providing comprehensive assistance to IDPs, will be able to support a huge category of Ukrainians. This process should not take place formally, but with a great understanding of the situation in which these people found themselves.
