Since the full-scale invasion, more and more people with a special status – internally displaced persons (IDPs) – have appeared on the territory of Ukraine. These are people who at one moment lost everything – their home, their job, the property they had earned for years, and many, even their loved ones. Being an internally displaced person is a real test. It is necessary to find a place to live, to find a means of subsistence, and most importantly, to find the strength to learn to live in a new way.
What problems do IDPs have to face and how does the state support citizens who find themselves in difficult living conditions
According to the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, as of 2024, 4.6 million people with the status of IDPs are officially registered in the country. This figure decreased by 0.3 million due to the loss of this status by persons who left abroad or returned to their homes. As Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk reported, the May evacuation from Kharkiv Oblast (6,500 people) and Sumy Oblast (3,500 people) was insignificant, and therefore did not significantly affect the total number of IDPs.
A significant number of IDPs are concentrated mainly in large cities, where, as a rule, there is a lot of competition, and therefore they face a number of problems, including:
- lack of housing;
- difficulties with employment;
- limited access to educational services;
- difficulties in receiving medical care;
- psychological problems.
Currently, housing is the main problem of the displaced people. Of course, the state provides the possibility of temporary accommodation in dormitories, but every day they become more and more crowded. And not everyone easily copes with the constant stay in a large crowd of people. So many IDPs are trying to carve out their own corner. The state provides monthly assistance in the amount of UAH 2,000 for adults and UAH 3,000 for children and persons with disabilities. But this money is not enough to pay for rented accommodation.
As of today, 1.5 million Ukrainians receive such payments. Starting in March 2024, those IDPs who have been registered since the first days of the full-scale invasion will lose the opportunity to receive cash payments if they do not meet certain categories:
- pensioners whose pension amount does not exceed UAH 9,444;
- people with disabilities of I and II groups, children with disabilities under 18 years of age, seriously ill children;
- orphans, children deprived of parental care and foster parents.
The state takes measures to compensate for lost or damaged housing. But, oh, and the thorny path to obtaining this compensation! Evidence of damage to the home must be collected, which means that a person must put himself or herself at risk in order to obtain evidence of a damaged household. And then there is a whole journey to various institutions and the collection of waste paper. At the end, a reward in the form of a pile of certificates and a promise to pay back when the war is over.
By the way, despite the fact that we live in the digital age, where it seems that everything should be solved in two clicks, in practice it turns out differently. People stand in long queues to register their household in the Unified State Register. And then it turns out that the technical passports are already out of date, and to restore them, you need to pay UAH 3,500 – UAH 4,000. If we compare it with the monthly help from the state in the amount of UAH 2,000-3,000, then it is interesting, where to get such money.
“It is normal, in the first six months a person receives more help, these are the first months after the relocation. Actually, help cannot last indefinitely,”– explains Tetyana Durneva, head of the board of the NGO “Public Holding “Influence Group”.
Therefore, IDPs should quickly find their way around and find a job in the labor market. And here, too, not everything is so simple.
How does the State Employment Service promote the employment of IDPs
The State Employment Service must promote the employment of IDPs. However, as surveys confirm, all help comes down to just a call from an operator with a weak message “If you need a job, contact the State Employment Service at…” 40% of respondents reported low awareness of all available measures and programs aimed at finding jobs for IDPs.
And such programs exist. Currently, eight vocational and technical education centers of the State Employment Service (SES) are registered in Ukraine, located in Dnipro, Poltava, Kharkiv, Lviv, Odesa, Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, and Sumy. They provide free vocational training services for all unemployed IDPs. IDPs with higher or vocational education have the right to receive a study voucher in the amount of about UAH 30,000. Such a voucher provides an opportunity to acquire a new profession from 120 possible options.
Difficulties with employment
For data of the social study “Effectiveness of the policy of supporting the economic activity of IDP women”, 78% of IDP women found employment in a new place. But every fifth woman holds a position that does not correspond to the level of her qualifications. 18% of respondents noted that they are dissatisfied with the level of remuneration. 34% do not see prospects for career growth. It is clear that the financial situation depends entirely on the type of employment. The research data showed that 40% of the respondents can cover current expenses, but have nothing to think about buying durable goods. At the same time, 76% of unemployed IDP women are generally on the verge of physical survival.
“Immigrants are reluctant to apply to employment centers, but rather prefer unofficial part-time jobs, as there are no vacancies suitable for their qualifications, and not everyone is ready to retrain for the professions offered there.” – Natalya Yesina, a human rights activist of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union for Human Rights, shares her observations.
The question arises – why are there no vacancies at a time when the state is considering the issue of attracting immigrants to the labor market in Ukraine? The problem of shadow employment of IDPs is closely related to the inability to cover minimum expenses, which is why Ukrainians combine several part-time jobs just to survive.
As for the employment of men, the problem of mobilization immediately arises here. After all, upon official employment or when applying to employment centers, the data on the spouse of an IDP immediately goes to the territorial recruiting centers. By data DSZ, in 2024, among the 29,000 registered unemployed IDPs, men make up only 14%.
Difficulties with employment are closely related to another problem of IDPs – limited access to educational services. IDPs often face the problem of a lack of places in kindergartens. Most, seeking to preserve the emotional peace of their children, try to continue their education remotely in their schools, and this requires the constant presence of at least one family member at home. The situation is similar with families with elderly people, or with the presence of a person with disabilities in the family. Many IDPs live in settlements where there are no shelters in schools, and kindergartens do not work at all. Of course, there can be no doubt about full-time employment. Probably, the state should more actively promote the development of the system of child care services and equipping educational institutions with shelters.
What other difficulties do IDPs face?
According to the study, approximately 60 percent of IDPs are in need of ongoing humanitarian assistance. It is certain that the state should monitor the movement of its citizens in order to support them. But in practice it turns out that people do not even know where to get humanitarian aid. Currently, the IDPs of the Vovchan community will remain without proper attention from the state. This is evidenced by the comments of many settlers from the destroyed city.
“It is still not clear whether registration for humanitarian aid is being conducted for all wolf residents, or only those who left after May 10. And, in general, what kind of situation is this, when people have to find information in doses themselves. And judging by the preliminary information received unofficially, we, wolves, should not expect help from the administrationYuriy Bondarenko, an IDP from Vovchansk, shares his experiences.
“People from the city of Vovchansk are only promised that the Vovchansk HAB works, but no help, if people live in a hostel, then they do not need humanitarian aid“, – complains Nataliya Steshenko, IDP.
“And we live in a rented apartment, so they completely forgot about us, as if we didn’t exist at all.” – says Olena, a resident of the destroyed Vovchansk.
Two months after the evacuation in May due to the aggravation of the situation in the east of the country, representatives of the authorities called the residents of the destroyed community in order to find out their actual whereabouts. But no one has said whether help will be provided. Time passes, but the situation does not change, as in the fable: “the truck is still there.”
We should not forget about the emotional state of IDPs.
“The experience of IDPs is different. Someone lost their home, relatives, someone left after a certain time after the occupation, and it is very difficult to expect employment from these people for the third or fifth day or even a month, because without psychological stabilization, they cannot take the next steps”, – emphasizes Valeriya Sekisova, a representative of the charitable foundation “Right to Defense”.
Many of the displaced are in a state of limbo, so to speak: some intend to move further in order to find a safer place, others cherish the hope of returning home. The uncertainty of the future and the feeling of temporary stay in a new place do not contribute to the motivation to find a new job.
Many of the immigrants are faced with misunderstanding, and sometimes simply with a prejudiced attitude from the local population. For some reason, Ukrainians have lost their sense of unity. Understanding the fact that we are all from the same country and that all of us have suffered the same misfortune – the war has receded somewhere into the background, giving way to the division into “own” and “foreign”.
“I received messages like “we’ve found it”, “we’ve arrived and are arranging it here”. Nobody said anything live, but there were many such comments on the Internet”, – remembers how Kateryna, an immigrant from Kharkiv, who now temporarily lives in Poltava, faced hate in social networks.
“She came to the Lutsk Red Cross. They signed me up, gave me two boxes with a humanitarian aid. In one – food products, in the other – chemistry. I looked at the boxes – I can’t carry them, they are heavy. I hear the ironic voice of the employee: “What, call a taxi?” She does not understand that I need these products and this washing powder. Because I will be able to spend money on other things: buy towels, dishes, bed linen. I refused the taxi, called my husband. Because of this method, I did not apply for a long time, although those products were not superfluous. When she came a year later, new rules were introduced: first you need to get a voucher, and then, on another day, help. I didn’t go anymore. I don’t like being humiliated”, – shares an unpleasant experience of Vera, an IDP from Skadovsk.
“I was looking for housing in Lviv. Prices started at 10,000 hryvnias. When they found out that I was the wife of a soldier, they said: “Your husband provides for you, he has a high salary.” I didn’t know then whether our lyceum would work or not, so I was looking for a job. And I got a refusal, because I am from the occupied territory. They didn’t even explain the reasons. No, that’s all. I communicate in Ukrainian, but local residents immediately say: “You are not ours.” I tell them: “But I am addressing you in Ukrainian.” In response, I hear: “You don’t speak our language”, – says psychologist and doctor Iryna Mykolaivna.
Of course, not all people behave this way. Many have rallied in difficult times and always support those who especially need it in word and deed. However, such cases, although isolated, leave an unpleasant residue in the soul. It is not necessary to give in to the aggression brought about by the war and to consider people arriving from occupied territories or places where constant hostilities are being waged as potential competitors. These are the same Ukrainians, but with the destroyed usual course of life, lost ties that were built over the years. People who are forced to look for shops with cheaper products, clothes, where to be treated, because everything around is unfamiliar, to acquire new habits and learn to live in a new way. The state should pay special attention to this and conduct explanatory work both with personnel in social services and among the population, how to deal with IDPs. Migrants may feel isolated in their new place of residence, especially if they have lost loved ones, have no relatives, or friends. All this can build a barrier on the way to full integration.
The problems of IDPs are complex and require a systemic approach and close cooperation of the state, international organizations and society as a whole. It is important to continue to develop and improve IDP support programs to ensure their decent integration into new communities and create conditions for a stable and safe life.
