The Ombudsman recorded gross violations of children’s rights in a Roma settlement in Transcarpathia
Representatives of the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights, while monitoring a Roma settlement in the Velykyluchkivska community of the Transcarpathian region, discovered numerous violations of children’s rights. Living conditions were dangerous to life and health: children live in unsanitary conditions, have rat bites, serious infectious diseases and tuberculosis. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported on the results of the inspection.
According to him, some of the children lack mandatory documents, including birth certificates. He separately noted the case of a newborn child for whom fictitious paternity was registered for a monetary reward. This, according to the Ombudsman, allowed the man to avoid mobilization and get the opportunity to travel abroad.
Lubinets emphasized that the relevant services at the community and regional levels were informed about the situation in the settlement, but they did not take any effective measures. The reaction appeared only after the intervention of the Ombudsman’s Office, when urgent steps were taken to protect the lives and health of children.
According to the Commissioner, the children were in danger for a long time due to the inaction of officials, despite the presence of medical confirmation of threats to their health. The Ombudsman regarded such a situation as a manifestation of systemic inaction by the authorities, which, in his opinion, is of a pan-Ukrainian nature.
