The application of the Directive on temporary protection provided effective assistance to Ukrainians — Natalia Naumenko
This was stated by the head of the State Migration Service of Ukraine today, October 13, during the online participation in the conference “Six months of application of the Directive on temporary protection” within the framework of the European Migration Network. The event was organized jointly by the National Contact Points of the EMM of Luxembourg and Cyprus.
In view of the recently signed Administrative Agreements between the State Migration Service of Ukraine and the European Commission within the framework of the European Migration Network, participation in the conference will contribute to the development of cooperation in all directions with the EMM, the deepening of Ukraine's integration into the European Community, as well as the further development of cooperation between the relevant agencies of Ukraine and EU.
During the event, the Temporary Protection Directive, adopted during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and first introduced by the EU Council in response to the increase in the number of Ukrainian citizens who had to leave for the territory of the EU member states after Russia's full-scale military aggression in Ukraine, was discussed. Member States and EMM observers shared the experience gained during the implementation of the Directive, as it has become very important for supporting Ukraine, as well as providing prompt and effective assistance to Ukrainians.
Natalia Naumenko thanked Ukraine for the support and assistance received in connection with the large-scale armed aggression by the Russian Federation, which caused an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that engulfed the whole country and caused the largest wave of migration of Ukrainians inside the state and abroad.
“The application by the EU countries of the Directive on temporary protection made it possible for persons who left the territory of Ukraine after February 24, 2022 to legally stay in the territory of the EU countries for one year, to gain free access to the labor market, education, social protection and health care system,” noted the head of the State Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
Natalia Naumenko also spoke about the project initiated by the DMS and introduced by the Government of Ukraine, which allowed to open foreign representative offices of the state-owned enterprise “Document”, which belongs to the sphere of management of the DMS and is the administrator of the Unified State Demographic Register of Ukraine. Currently, such representative offices are already operating in Warsaw, Krakow and Gdańsk.
“The work of such representative offices abroad helps to solve the issue of registration and issuance of passport documents to citizens of Ukraine. Now we are working on opening such units in other countries where there are a significant number of Ukrainians. In particular, these are Turkey, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany and Spain,” said the head of the Ukrainian migration department.
At the same time, foreign colleagues were informed about the active participation of the DMS in the work on the return to Ukraine of children temporarily abroad and Ukrainians forcibly deported to Russia and Belarus. In addition, Natalia Naumenko spoke about cooperation with the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories on the issue of direct participation in issuing certificates for return to Ukraine.
The participants of the event unanimously supported Ukraine and promised to continue to support in all necessary directions that will help bring our country closer to victory. In turn, the head of the DMS noted that the Ukrainian experience can be a starting point for the development of a conceptually new migration policy of the European community.
State Migration Service of Ukraine
