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IV. PROBLEMS OF MIGRATION FOR EMPLOYMENT AS VIEWED FROM THE REGIONS

Given the actuality and social importance of the issues of migration for employment abroad, the Commissioner for Human Rights, while drafting the Special Report, sent out written requests to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea as well as to the chairmen of state administrations in the oblasts and the city state administrations of Kyiv and Sevastopol that they provide information along with analyses of the problems that arise in connection with the migration of the regions’ residents for employment abroad and offer their proposals for dealing with them and improving the observance and protection of the Ukrainian citizens’ rights during their stay in other countries. The Commissioner also requested available information about the number of citizens who died or perished abroad in the period from 1999 to 2002 and the causes of their death.

Judging from the received responses, the local bodies of state authority have a different understanding of the issues: it ranges from approval and implementation of comprehensive regional programs and definite measures on dealing with the negative consequences of migration for employment to dissatisfaction with the lack of adequate information about migration for employment.

Quite a few of the responses reflect a deep understanding of the problems and support the given monitoring.

The most substantiated responses and proposals were received from the state administrations of Transcarpathian, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Odessa, Sumy, Ternopil, Kherson, Chernivtsi and Chernihiv oblasts, which, on the whole, shows that these problems are quite acute for the frontier oblasts from which the bulk of migrant workers originates.

Most of the regions met with difficulties in collecting and generalizing the information, because local bodies of the executive relied only on statistical data provided by employment centers, which did not reflect the real picture about migration for employment abroad. Each region had its own understanding of the problems, depending on how migration for employment affected the local economy, labor resources, and the demographic situation. It was only Dnipropetrovsk oblast, Ivano-Frankivsk oblast and Ternopil oblast that provided information about how much money migrant workers transferred through the banking system from abroad. Referring to the lack of centralized statistical records, a part of the regions could not furnish any information about the real number of residents employed abroad, their age, gender, as well as those who died and were missing.

Following is a short overview of employment for migration as reported by Ukraine’s regions.

TERNOPIL OBLAST. The region was the first in Ukraine to monitor this problem diversely. Its survey, “Migration of Ternopil Oblast Residents for Employment,” was made in quantitative and geographical aspects jointly with the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy and the oblast state administration. Such a monitoring is a source of valuable experience for other regions and can be used when formulating government policy for controlling and coordinating migration processes.

According to the survey and the information of the oblast state administration deputy chairman, L.Pivets, the migration of the local population was caused primarily by the sharp decline in standards of living and the need to find better-paid jobs abroad. People leave the region mostly illegally, under the guise of tourist travel included. At the present time no reliable information is available about the main destinations of migrant workers, their number, age, gender composition and areas of employment.

Official statistics register only several thousands of people who leave the region annually. The authors of the survey consider Ternopil oblast a mean statistical region as regards the activity of migrant workers. At July 2002, as the oblast employment center informed, about 100,000 residents of the region left it for employment abroad.

According to the information of village radas (councils), the number of residents working abroad in 2001 amounted to 20,000, i.e. 6.33% of the rural population of employable age, including 11,925 men and 8,170 women (see Table 4.1)

Table 4.1. Destinations and number of rural migrant workers from Ternopil oblast in 2001

According to the Treaty between Ukraine and the Czech Republic on Reciprocal Employment of Ukrainian Citizens and Czech Citizens of March 21, 1996, the oblast employment center referred 53 people to the Czech Republic for employment in nine months of 2002.

Among the problems that arise in connection with migration for employment are the following:

§ region’s temporary loss of labor potential;

§ partial loss of professional skills of workers;

§ moral and psychological damage, maladies among a certain number of migrant workers and members of their families;

§ devaluation of publicly useful work for the country, drinking, dissolute behavior among a part of the men (women);

§ social orphanhood of children caused by the departure of parents;

§ growing prices of goods and services on the domestic market without a corresponding increase in the purchasing power of the bulk of the population.

As of nine months of 2002, four persons were reported missing abroad (one in Italy, one in Poland, and two in Hungary).

In nine months of 2002, 37 persons died and perished abroad (22 in Poland, eight in Portugal, two in Russia, two in Italy, two in the Czech Republic, and one in Germany). Causes of death: road accidents, industrial injuries, and cardiovascular disorders.

The remains of all the dead were returned to Ukraine. In response to the applications of families of the deceased, cash aid was granted for burial and vehicles were provided for transporting the deceased from the Ukrainian-Polish border.

In the opinion of the oblast state administration, Ukraine should accede to the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers, 1977, and the ILO 97 Convention in order to safeguard the rights of Ukrainian migrant workers, and also conclude inter-governmental treaties on reciprocal employment of citizens.

ODESSA OBLAST. The response of the oblast state administration chairman, P.Smahliy, merits special attention, since the problems of migration for employment and the protection of Ukrainian migrant workers abroad is of paramount importance for this maritime region.

According to official statistics, 13,360 citizens (12,672 men and 688 women) migrated for employment abroad in the first six months of 2002 through the services of intermediary agencies. In 2001, 22,423 departed abroad – 20,787 men and 1,636 women (see Table 4.2).

Table 4.2. Ukrainian citizens employed abroad (in 48 countries)

The number of employed abroad in 2001 was as follows: 5,078 aged from 18 to 28 years (4,619 men and 459 women); 10,228 aged from 28 to 40 years (9,723 men and 505 women); and 7,117 aged 40 and more years (6,445 men and 672 women). Number of citizens who were temporarily employed abroad in the first six months of 2002: 2,864 aged from 18 to 28 years (2,571 men and 293 women); 5,996 aged from 28 to 40 years (5,711 men and 285 women); and 4,500 aged 40 and more years (4,390 men and 110 women).

About 97% of the migrant workers are engaged in maritime transport abroad, which reflects the economic aspect of the region. At a time when Ukraine’s maritime industry is in a drastic decline, employment of our seamen on foreign ships offers them the opportunity to retain their qualification and care for their families back home. The situation requires the government’s more determined control over the activity of crewing agencies and their compliance with the terms of contracts concluded with Ukrainian seamen.

It is also doubtful whether Odessa oblast should operate a total of 220 licensed crewing agencies. For example, in Russia there are only about 350 such agencies.

By some indications the illegal migration rates are too high and government agencies exert insufficient influence to keep them down. According to Interpol data, the whereabouts of nine of the oblast residents were unknown in 2002. In 10 months alone, the Odessa port received 539 Ukrainian citizens deported from Turkey for violations of residence rules, illegal employment, and prostitution.

Taking into account that the main factors of migration for employment abroad will persistent for a long time, bodies of state authority should concentrate their efforts on improving the conditions of work of Ukrainian citizens, exercising more effective state control over the migration processes, and protecting the rights of Ukrainian citizens temporarily employed abroad, and to this end they should:

§ formulate and approve state policy of migration for employment for the next few years. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy should enhance the staff of its departments for employment abroad, charging them with the duty of collecting and processing relevant information, counseling citizens and intermediary agencies, drafting regulations, and studying the practice of employing people abroad;

§ speed up the conclusion of treaties on reciprocal employment and citizens’ social protection with countries that have a large concentration of Ukrainian migrant workers. Concurrently, draft treaties on recognizing professional education so as to retain and advance the qualification of national specialists during their temporary stay abroad;

§ study the issue of Ukraine’s accession to international conventions safeguarding migrant workers’ rights, primarily the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers, 1977;

§ introduce at Ukrainian diplomatic missions of the host countries the office of attachе for labor issues charged with the duty to protect the rights of migrant workers;

§ the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the State Security Service, and the State Committee for Guarding the State Border should develop a single database of persons crossing the state border, and set out the procedure for accessing and using such information;

§ raise requirements to the issue of licenses for recruitment and placement agencies and make more stringent the control of law enforcement bodies and employment services over the agencies’ compliance with license terms and conditions;

§ draft and put into effect a legal rule under which a worker referred to a country/signatory of a treaty on social protection is bound to be insured in Ukraine through an intermediary agency and a foreign employer who contributes a corresponding insurance premium. A similar model of insuring migrant workers is in effect in Indonesia (Astek Program);

§ raise to a proper level government informational and publicity activity in the migration process. Develop a database of countries inviting migrant workers and ensure the citizens’ access to this information.

LVIV OBLAST. The Commissioner received the information about the compliance with migrant workers’ rights abroad from the oblast state administration chairman, M.Yankiv.

By the observations of the oblast state administration, migration for employment abroad affects the region in the following way: outflow of highly skilled specialists; separation of families; absence of parental care of minors over long periods; reduction of birth rates.

In order to reduce migration, the oblast state administration maintains that the following measures should be taken:

§ create a much larger number of jobs;

§ improve conditions of work;

§ raise wages;

§ promote the development of small and medium-sized businesses;

§ facilitate employment of young specialists.

The overwhelming majority of citizens work abroad illegally and therefore they are reluctant to have the violations of their rights’ made officially public.

The Directorate for Resorts and Tourism under the oblast state administration polled 20 tourist companies in order to reveal what problems citizens would have to tackle with the establishment of a visa regime between Ukrainian, Hungary and Poland. The poll also covered the difficulties that might arise after the introduction of a visa regime with the Czech Republic and Slovakia, namely:

§ complex procedure of application for and issue of visas at the Embassy of the Czech Republic for our citizens traveling abroad for rest, medical treatment, official and business purposes;

§ discordant system of border and customs control resulting in unjustified delays from two to three hours on the border;

§ absence of a Slovak consular outlet in the oblast, which hinders speedy application for and issue of visas.

Judging from state statistical reports, the number of tourists traveling abroad has dropped drastically in some cases (see Table 4.3).

Table 4.3. Breakdown of Ukrainian tourists by countries visited in 2000–2001

Analyzing the breakdown of tourists by destinations, we see an upward trend of travel for rest and a downward trend for employment abroad. This observation is supported by the increasing number of tourists visiting countries that are famous for their resorts (Bulgaria, Hungary, Austria and Turkey).

Problems that might arise, once a visa regime between Ukraine, Poland and Hungary is introduced, and proposals to deal with them:

§ complex procedure of application for and issue of visas at the Polish Embassy in Kyiv for citizens who live in Ukraine’s western regions.

Proposal: set up a department for issuing visas for residents of the western regions on the basis of the honorary Polish Consulate in Lviv.

§ longer duration of customs clearing and border control on the borders of Poland and Hungary that will result in unnecessary inconveniences for tourists and the companies servicing them.

Proposal: set up additional checkpoints for organized tourist groups and tourists/invalids.

Another problem is the execution of travel documents for minors of single families. More often than not it is simply impossible to receive consent from one of the parent whose whereabouts are unknown.

At October 1, 2002, 14 residents of the oblast were reported missing.

The oblast state administration has no information about how many people died or perished abroad and what financial resources were allocated for burials from the local budgets.

CHERNIVTSI OBLAST. As reported by the oblast state administration deputy chairman, S.Vyshniakov, migration for illegal employment abroad is lately intensively practiced by the residents of Chernivtsi and the region’s rayons (districts). People seek such employment under the guise of tourist travel or by guest visas through agencies that have no right to engage in such business. The agencies demand a lot of money for their services, bearing no responsibility for what might happen to their clients. Permitted to engage in tourism only, such agencies actually recruit people for illegal employment outside the country.

The region’s residents work mostly in Italy, Portugal, Greece, Spain, Israel, the UK, and Germany as domestic help as well as workers on construction sites and in agriculture. Unemployment in the region was caused by structural changes in the local economy, restructuring of enterprises, their bankruptcy and liquidation. Low wages and arrears of wages have contributed to the growing dimensions of illegal employment abroad.

Since 2000 the Main Directorate for Labor and Social Protection under the oblast state administration, jointly with village and township radas, has been monitoring illegal employment of the region’s residents abroad. However, there is no information about how many residents of Chernivtsi are among the illegal migrant workers. As to the rural areas, the number of people who are employed abroad amounts to some 40,000 (against the approximately 25,000 in 2000).

Chernivtsi oblast has seven tourist companies that recruit people for work abroad under licenses awarded for this purpose. All of them are bound to conclude contracts with foreign employers and submit reports to the oblast employment service every six months. Judging from statistical reports for the current year, only seven persons were employed legally.

Illegal migrant workers are deprived of all social safeguards, which impairs their human dignity and, now and then, endangers them. According to the official information of the oblast Directorate for Statistics, 10 persons died in the period from January to September 2002: one drowned, one met his death in a car accident, five died of diseases, one from alcohol poisoning, one from a fatal beating, and one was murdered.

In nine months of 2002, according to unofficial information of rayon state administrations, the remains of 25 migrant workers were transferred to the districts for burial, and one person was reported missing. Cash assistance for burial was provided under operative legislation.

No official information is available about bank transfers from the host countries. Most of what the migrant workers earned is passed on to families and relatives either by car and truck drivers or by intermediaries. But by unofficial information the earnings are substantial. The region’s statistical data show that expenses exceed their income 1.6 times. The disproportion in favor of expenses is growing annually.

Guarantee of decent wages back home is perhaps the only possible alternative to stem the outflow of labor.

To safeguard the rights of Ukrainian citizens abroad, the government should speed up the conclusion of international treaties on official employment of our countrymen throughout the world.

CHERNIHIV OBLAST. The Chernihiv oblast state administration deputy chairman, M.Murashko, informed that 1,628 residents left the region in 2001, 86 of them for employment abroad.

The number of the oblast residents who departed at October 1, 2002 to seek employment abroad is presented in Table 4.4.

Table 4.4. Number of Chernihiv oblast residents who went abroad for
employment, as of October 1, 2002 (data of village and township radas)

Migration for employment is carried on under the guise of tourist travel.

To deal with the problem of migration, the oblast state administration proposed the following:

at the national level:

§ extend the practice of concluding bilateral inter-state and intergovernmental treaties on employment and social protection of citizens working abroad;

§ ensure the distribution of individual laws guaranteeing protection of the life, health, rights and freedoms of Ukrainian migrant workers. Make it a binding condition for these rights to be stipulated in employment contracts;

§ exercise more determined control over recruitment agencies placing Ukrainian citizens with employers abroad.

at the local level:

§ establish smooth interaction and cooperation with the law enforcement bodies of the executive and employment services to check illegal migration, raise the quality of public awareness, especially among young people who intend to seek employment abroad;

§ facilitate search of official employers outside Ukraine for reorientation of surplus labor flows. Publish through the mass media vacancies and conditions of employment abroad;

§ ensure systematic counseling and explanation among potential illegal migrants of the risk groups in order to provide targeted assistance to them.

SUMY OBLAST. M.Kramar, oblast state administration deputy chairman, forwarded to the Commissioner for Human Rights a sound overview of the local problems of migration for employment.

Every year 1,500 to 2,000 residents are leaving the region, from 500 to 800 for destinations other than the CIS countries. The main reason for their departure is the impossibility to find work in Ukraine.

During the past eight years the oblast population size shrunk by almost 10%. What aroused particular concern is the fact that almost 73% of the migrants are of employable age and over 41% of them are specialists with a higher, incomplete higher and vocational education. Also, some 53% of the migrant workers are young people from 16 to 28 years of age.

As an inevitable consequence of the outflow of young people, the share of old-age groups is increasing in the population structure. A higher share of the elderly causes a rise in state expenditures for their social security.

According to some expert assessments, 3-5% of the region’s residents of employable age are constantly working abroad, while the majority of them (about three-fourth) are employed illegally. The latter are compelled to take up any jobs without any social protection whatsoever. For instance, the police in Russia persistently violate the migrants’ rights (bribes, unlawful apprehension, beatings) and in case of refusal to pay fines (for lack of money) passports are unlawfully taken away. Medical assistance is yet another problem of Ukrainian migrant workers.

In the opinion of the oblast state administration, the situation can be changed if the government would sign treaties between Ukraine and those European countries that have the largest number of our migrants, organize legal counseling of the latter (e.g., when they apply for a foreign passport), and also insist on their binding registration with Ukrainian consular posts in the host countries.

TRANSCARPATHIAN OBLAST. I.Rohach, deputy chairman of the oblast state administration, is in full agreement with the Commissioner for Human Rights about the need to introduce at the national level effectual mechanisms for the protection of human rights of our citizens traveling abroad for employment and for monitoring compliance with these rights.

In the region this problem is quite acute, because the potential and dimensions of migration have grown substantially over the past ten years, while the destinations of migrants are more and more farther away from home. The economic crisis that caused high unemployment is one of the principal reasons behind the migration.

According to the information of the oblast employment center, 509 people were granted permits for employment in 2001 under intergovernmental treaties between Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Slovakia on reciprocal employment of citizens (222 in the Czech Republic and 287 in Slovakia). In 2000 the figures were 1,105 and 350 for the Czech Republic and Slovakia respectively.

However, the existing system of statistical reporting cannot adequately reflect the status and dimensions of migration for employment abroad. The extremely high migration rate in the region can be deduced by the employment rate – only 49.7% in 2001. Almost a half of the region’s residents from 15 to 70 years of age are not employed at their places of domicile. Certainly, this circumstance cannot but tell on the overall migration activity, which official statistics does not take into account. To give a more accurate figure is not possible, because the majority of those who work abroad are doing so illegally. A sampling survey conducted in 33 inhabited localities revealed that over 18% of residents of employable age are involved in migration for employment outside the country.

Migration for employment produces a dual effect on the sociopolitical situation in the region. On the one hand, it averts social conflicts by providing the main, if not the only, source of income as an important element of survival for a lot of families, and alleviates the situation on the domestic labor market. But on the other hand, it causes the loss of qualified personnel, puts more pressure on the physical and moral health of people, and produces growing apathy and distrust of the government.

As a distinctive shock absorber of the complex socioeconomic situation, migration for employment is beginning to lose its remedial effect (as the neighboring countries join the EU and NATO and Slovakia and the Czech Republic introduce a visa regime), which can have an extremely negative outcome, what with the mass unemployment in the region. Although several bilateral intergovernmental treaties on reciprocal employment have been concluded, only two treaties – with the Czech Republic and Slovakia – are actually effective. With the introduction of the visa regime, the number of Ukrainian citizens officially employed in these countries is constantly declining. It is proposed to open in Uzhgorod a Czech consulate where the residents of Transcarpathian oblast could quickly be issued documents for legal employment.

By the information of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Directorate in Transcarpathia oblast, 10 of its residents were reported missing abroad at November 1, 2002: six in Russia, two in Hungary, and two in the Czech Republic. The oblast Directorate for Statistics informed that 173 residents died abroad in the period from 2000 to 2002.

In order to receive reliable information about the motives of migration, protection of and compliance with the rights of migrants, and the causes of their death and tragic accidents, the Commissioner for Human Rights helped the Transcarpathian oblast rada a lot in the conduct of the monitoring.

M.Andrus, chairman of the oblast rada, dispatched a written instruction to all chairmen of district and township radas to collect and prepare information requested by the Commissioner.

According to the national census, the population size of Transcarpathian oblast was 1,257,700 at December 5, 2001.

Although no accurate information about migrant workers from Transcarpathian oblast is available, it can be deduced that annually about 300,000 of the region’s residents leave abroad to seek employment. Transcarpathia’s unemployment rate is among the highest in the country, involving almost a half of the region’s residents – 47%. On the national scale this rate comes to 27.2%.

No statistics are compiled as to the migrant workers who deceased abroad. For this purpose inquiries were sent out to all village, township and city radas. The figures furnished by the latter are presented in Table 4.5.

Table 4.5. Data of Transcarpathian oblast local bodies of
self-government about the perished and deceased abroad in 1999–2002

KHERSON OBLAST. O.Stasiuk, deputy chairman of the oblast state administration, forwarded diverse information with opinions and proposals. Operating in the region in 2002 were 44 recruitment agencies holding licenses for employment abroad. Permits were issued to 573 people, 567 of them men and six women. Among the men 102 were aged from 18 to 28 years, 261 from 29 to 40 years, and 204 over 40 years. Among the women three were from 29 to 40 years of age, and three over 40 years old.

Of those temporarily employed abroad 58 were in Greece, 13 in Georgia, 14 in Denmark, 25 in Israel, 15 in Cambodia, eight in Cyprus, 47 in Malta, 11 in Nigeria, seven in Germany, 4 in the UAE, 21 in Russia, 77 in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, seven in the US, 56 in Turkey, 104 in Croatia, and four in the Czech Republic.

In transport 460 persons were engaged, i.e. 80.3% of the employed.

According to official statistics, the labor force employed in all sectors of the region’s economy during the past five years dropped by an average of 20,000 annually; the anticipated decline in 2002 is 19,500. Most of those going abroad do not hold a job back home. The number of the latter was 93.5% at July 1, 2002.

Cases of death of 50 of the region’s residents were registered in the period from 1999 to 2002. Information about those who died or perished abroad is presented according to the reports of corresponding Ukrainian embassies.

Twelve persons were reported missing. The oblast state administration provided some of figures of how many of the region’s residents perished and died in 2001:

Ukrainian Embassy in Portugal

§ Yuri S., born 1955, cause of death – stroke.

§ Olexiy F., born 1971, cause of death – murder.

§ Igor V, born 1962, cause of death – not indicated.

§ Serhiy B., born 1961, cause of death – road accident.

§ Oleg N., born January 16, 1967, cause of death – head injuries.

Ukrainian Embassy in the US, New York City

§ Sviatoslav K., born 1962, cause of death – stroke.

Ukrainian Embassy in the Czech Republic

§ Dmytro M., born 1970, cause of death – firearm wounds.

§ Maria T., 1968, cause of death – road accident.

Ukrainian Embassy in Russia

§ Mykola K., born 1958, (died in a hospital) cause of death – not indicated.

§ Olexandr R., 1954, cause of death – not indicated.

§ Serhiy L., 1969, cause of death – not indicated.

Ukrainian Embassy in Poland

§ Arkadiy K., born 1961, cause of death – not indicated.

§ Volodymyr D., born 1967, cause of death – narcotic poisoning.

§ Valentyn K., born 1960, cause of death – suicide.

Ukrainian Embassy in the UAE

§ Volodymyr Ch., 55, cause of death – accident on board of tug Admiral Makarov.

§ Volodymyr Sh., 43, cause of death – accident on board of tug Admiral Makarov.

§ Olexandr B., 51, cause of death – accident on board of tug Admiral Makarov.

Ukrainian Embassy in Spain

§ Alina H., born 1967, cause of death – not indicated.

§ Andriy D., born 1973, Volodymyr Ch, 55, cause of death – accident on board of MS Rebecca.

§ Iryna S., born 1965, cause of death – not indicated.

§ Mykhailo S. (other information unavailable).

Ukrainian Embassy in the Netberlends, The Hague

§ Anatoliy P., born 1954, cause of death – injuries sustained when attempting suicide.

Ukrainian Embassy in Turkey

§ Angela A., born 1975, cause of death – stroke.

§ Valeriy K., born 1945, cause of death – myocardial infarction on board MS Olexandr Karastoianov.

Ukrainian Embassy in Italy

§ Tetiana P., 1964, cause of death – not indicated.

Ukrainian Embassy in Greece

§ Valeriy Ch., born 1967, cause of death – suicide (asphyxia).

In view of the topicality, dimensions and negative consequences of illegal migration, the oblast state administration put forward the following proposals:

§ introduce amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Ukraine on criminal and administrative liability for violating the conditions and rules of recruitment for employment abroad and control over their compliance;

§ establish government control over travel of Ukrainian citizens through tourist companies;

§ prohibit from awarding individuals permits (licenses) for recruitment and vest these functions with legal entities;

§ introduce the procedure for awarding licenses for recruitment in two stages, as stipulated by Ministry of Labor and Social Policy Regulation No.35 of July 14, 1992.

CITY OF KYIV. O.Yakovenko, chairman of the Kyiv city state administration, informed that in the period from March 1995 to October 2002, 473,226 foreign passports were issued to Kyiv’s residents, 116,413 for persons from 18 to 28 years of age (24.6%), 270,685 for persons from 29 to 45 years of age (57.2%), and 86,128 for persons over 46 years of age (18.2%).

In pursuance of Presidential Edict of March 15, 2002 On Urgent Additional Measures to Strengthen Morality in Society and Assert Healthy Lifestyles as well as Ministry of Internal Affairs Instruction No.49/2-1284 of April 5, 2002, officials of passport departments have been carrying on public awareness work on the possible negative consequences of travel abroad for employment through dubious agencies.

According to the registration files of the Interpol Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Main Directorate, 17 Kyiv residents were reported missing in the period from 1997 to 2002: four in the US, three in Russia, two each in Israel and Bulgaria, and one each in Croatia, the Czech Republic, Portugal, Greece, Turkey and Germany.

Besides, as Ukrainian consular posts informed, 95 persons perished or died abroad (see Table 4.6).

Table 4.6. Data about perished and deceased Kyiv residents abroad in 1999–2002

The oblast state administration informed that under the Instruction on the Procedure of Burial, Maintenance of Cemeteries and Organization of Ritual Services in the Inhabited Localities of Ukraine (KSA-204/12 Ukraine 182-91) a place for burial at cemeteries is allotted only upon availability of a death certificate of the deceased. As a rule, no other documents have to be submitted and therefore no records are kept on how many people died abroad.

On the basis of applications sent in by Slovak enterprises, as stipulated by the Treaty between the Governments of the Slovak Republic and Ukraine, the Kyiv City Employment Center prepared within nine months of 2002 and forwarded documents for employment in that country for 17 Kyiv residents (system administrator, power engineer, ballet performer). The Kyiv City Employment Center did not receive any other applications from enterprises of other countries with whom similar treaties have been concluded.

The city state administration deems it advisable to bring Article 9 of the Law On Licensing Specific Types of Economic Activity into conformity with Article 18 of the Law On Employment of the Population insofar as it concerns licensing tradable services for mediation of employment of Ukrainian citizens. Under the Law On Employment of the Population mediation has to be carried out on the basis of licenses awarded by the Ministry of Labor, while under the other Law On Licensing Specific Types of Economic Activity this business is not licensed. The Kyiv city state administration forwarded its proposal to the Ministry of Labor (Letter No132-114 of March 7, 2001) to grant the city’s bodies of the executive the right to issue licenses for recruiting migrant workers, since the executive is in a better position to ensure effective control over the operation of private recruitment agencies.

Taking into account the experience of other countries in this area, it would be advisable for Ukraine to accede to the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers, 1977 and the ILO No.97 Convention, 1949. Such a step would be in accord in European practices and provide all-round safeguards for Ukrainian migrant workers abroad.

KYIV OBLAST. M.Urupa, deputy chairman of the oblast state administration, informed that at November 1, 2002 Kyiv oblast numbered four business entities holding licenses of the State Employment Center for recruiting Ukrainian citizens for employment abroad.

Through their services, 139 citizens were placed with jobs abroad (Libya) in nine months of 2002 (see Table 4.7).

Table 4.7. Number of Kyiv oblast residents employed abroad in 2002

The work of these business entities is checked by the oblast employment center jointly with the Department for Control of Trafficking in Persons under the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kyiv oblast and the public prosecutor’s office. The inspections have not revealed any violations of the citizens’ rights.

At October 1, 2002 the oblast state administration did not receive official information about any problems or facts of violations of the oblast residents’ rights abroad, nor any reports about missing, deceased or perished oblast residents outside the country. Neither is there any information about bank transfers from the host countries where migrant workers are employed.

In order to check illegal migration and trafficking in persons in Kyiv oblast Measures of Counteraction Against Trafficking in Persons for 2002-2005 in the Oblast were drafted and endorsed by the chairman of the oblast state administration on August 2, 2002.

For the observance and protection of citizens’ rights abroad the oblast state administration proposed to effect the following measures:

§ legislatively stipulate that the territorial departments of citizenship, passport control and immigration under the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs discharge the duty of organizing and collecting relevant information about the problems related to travel and stay of Ukrainian citizens abroad;

§ Ukrainian consular posts (embassies) abroad should provide information about Ukrainian citizens reported missing, died and perished (with stated causes of death) to bodies of the executive and self-government at the citizen’s place of domicile;

§ settle the issue of Ukraine acceding to the European Convention on the Legal Status of Migrant Workers, 1977 and the ILO No.97 Convention, 1949.

VOLYN OBLAST. In response to the Commissioner’s request, the oblast state administration deputy chairman, S.Rodych, sent an analysis of the situation and proposals on how to deal with it. Every day 1,500 Volyn residents depart for Belarus. Engaged in low-paid work, they return home that same day. The number of migrant workers going to Poland is about three times as much, but they work there illegally.

The oblast has two agencies – the private Interconsulting Co. and the Volyn Employment Center – that hold licenses for recruiting people for work abroad. In nine months of 2002, they recruited only one person.

According to the information of the Volyn border control unit, 1,524,331 persons departed and 1,429,504 persons entered the country. It is unknown how many of them were residents of the region. In ten months of 2002, 244 Ukrainian citizens were deported from Poland for different reasons. Five persons in Poland and one in Italy died in road accidents. No funds from the local budget were allocated for transporting and burying the deceased.

In the opinion of the oblast state administration, the collection of information about migrants passing through the border checkpoints has to be improved in order to control the migration flows.

After the introduction of a visa regime with Poland and Hungary, the local authorities expect an additional tension on the Ukrainian labor market, decline in the flow of different categories of migrants across the Ukrainian-Polish and Ukrainian-Hungarian borders, a much larger concentration of illegal migrants from other countries in Ukraine, as well as a worse criminogenic situation at the borders and in the country proper. Amendments to legislation should be introduced to govern these legal relations.

DNIPROPETROVSK OBLAST. As the oblast state administration deputy chairman, Y.Dubinin, informed, at November 1, 2002, there were 38 registered agencies holding licenses for placing people with jobs abroad. In the first six months of 2002, they recruited 82 persons: 32 aged from 18 to 28 years, including four men and 28 women; 31 aged from 29 to 40 years, including 23 men and eight women; and 18 aged over 41 years, including 16 men and two women.

The overwhelming majority departed for Russia to work at enterprises engaged in construction, as well as for Japan as special “ballet performers.” The recruitment agencies are under constant control of corresponding departments of the oblast state administration, as provided for under operative legislation.

As to the information about citizens who were reported missing abroad, it is available at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that takes stock of such a category of citizens.

According to the information of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, one citizen died in Austria in 2001 and one each in Poland and Turkey in 2002.

Notably, the organized criminal groups in Dnipropetrovsk oblast are dominated by organizations that control trafficking in persons and illegal migration. Taking women abroad for using them in the sex business is becoming widespread.

Representatives of the State Committee for Guarding the State Border, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service in the region are acting in close cooperation to curb the activity of organized crime groups and individuals involved in trafficking in persons and organizing illegal migration. The bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service in the oblast held 11 Ukrainian citizens to answer criminal charges for these offenses.

The oblast state administration is in complete agreement with the Commissioner on taking comprehensive special measures at the national level and proposes the following:

§ initiate the conclusion of intergovernmental treaties on employment as well as legal and social protection of citizens with those countries with which Ukraine does not have such treaties;

§ develop a state system of data backup on the labor market abroad – from definite locations of jobs to familiarization with operative legislation on employment in the host countries;

§ study the issue of setting up a structure (e.g., as a department of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy) for the social and legal protection of migrant workers.

The Dnipropetrovsk oblast state administration helped the Commissioner a lot in gaining a general picture about the earnings of migrant workers from the region between 2000 and 2002 (see Chapter I, Table 1.6).

CHERKASSY OBLAST. A.Chaban, deputy chairman of the oblast state administration, informed that the problems of the region’s migrant workers seeking jobs and their stay abroad have since long been the object of study by relevant departments of the oblast state administration, specifically by the Main Directorate for Labor and Social Protection of the Population.

An analysis of the situation revealed that the diverse channels through which travel documents and all sorts of visas are applied for and issued as well as the lack of feedback from consular posts make it impossible to establish the exact number of citizens who are outside the country.

At November 18, 2002 the oblast had nine registered business entities holding special permits (licenses) to provide services for recruiting people for employment abroad. Apart from them, there are a number of affiliated branches of similar business entities whose central offices are located in Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk. It is not within their functions to provide information about the number of people employed abroad.

One of the problems that attend migration for employment abroad is the lack of a single system of registration of citizens who are outside Ukraine and the binding statistical reports of business entities that recruit people for this purpose.

According to the information of Interpol, five resident of the region have been reported missing in the countries of the Schengen Tresty.

The oblast state administration holds that for control over the migration processes at the national level a number of measures have to be taken to improve operative legislation and the existing system of the citizens’ departure from the country, specifically by raising the issue of establishing a single state migration service with corresponding departments in the regions.

The oblast state administration supported the Commissioner for Human Rights in that the problems of migrant workers as well as the protection of the Ukrainian citizens’ rights and freedoms are issues of Ukraine’s national security and was prepared for close cooperation in this respect.

KHARKIV OBLAST. Relying on the information of the oblast employment center, the deputy chairman of the oblast state administration, V.Dulub, informed that commercial agencies recruited 266 Ukrainian citizens for employment abroad, while the oblast employment center recruited three men: two from 18 to 28 years of age, 257 from 29 to 45 years of age, and four over 45 years of age; and women: six from 18 to 28 years of age.

All the women (six) were employed in Cyprus and the men (263) in the Russian Federation.

However, the rate of employment by recruitment agencies declined almost half as much again (1,403 persons in 1997-1999, 963 persons in 2000-2002), mainly because the agencies had no contracts with foreign employers and permits for entry into the host countries.

In this connection, it would be desirable to provide for the following:

§ specific powers for regional state structures when drafting and concluding agreements (contracts) with foreign business entities for employing Ukrainian citizens;

§ legal status of business partner for the oblast employment center when concluding agreements with mediators abroad;

§ rules of work with citizens who apply for employment abroad, specifically range of services (including preferential loans for covering expenses related to issue of visa documents and travel to the place of work), advisability of concluding agreements and providing services, and the like.

The oblast employment center did not receive any complaints from Ukrainian citizens about violations of their rights abroad.

In 2002 the Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Kharkiv oblast issued 190,081 foreign passports to applicants of the following age categories: 7,000 to people aged from 18 to 28 years, of which 3,756 were women and 3,244 men; 7,466 aged from 29 to 45 years, of which 3,600 were women and 3,866 men; and 4,542 aged 45 years and more, of which 2,475 were women and 2,067 men.

Foreign passports for temporary departure abroad are issued in accordance with the Law On the Procedure of Departure from and Entry into Ukraine of Ukrainian Citizens and the Instruction on the Procedure for Issuing Foreign Passports to Ukrainian Citizens and Travel Documents for Children for Departure Abroad without Identifying the Purpose of Temporary Departure.

The Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the region does not have any information about local residents reported missing during their stay abroad.

In order to coordinate the process of migration for employment, alleviate tension on the domestic labor market, prevent illegal employment, and ensure social protection of citizens working abroad, there is a need to elevate the status of government agencies at the regional level, namely the directorates for labor and social protection of the population and the departments of nationalities and migration under the oblast state administration, and the departments of citizenship, passport control and immigration under the directorates of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the regions.

LUHANSK OBLAST. The chairman of the oblast state administration, O.Yefremov, informed that in compliance with the Law On Approving the State Program of Employment of the Population for 2004 and in pursuance of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy Order No.514 of October 3, 2002 On Drafting the Action Plan for 2003 for the Execution of the State Program of Employment of the Population for 2001-2004 and Territorial Employment Programs for 2003, the local state administration adopted an employment program for 2003. It provides for measures of continued development of cooperation with the border oblasts of Russia in regulating migration for employment, social protection of Ukrainian and Russian citizens, measures against their discrimination, and prevention of illegal employment in the contiguous frontier oblasts.

Under the Law On the Procedure of Departure from and Entry into Ukraine of Ukrainian Citizens of January 24, 1994 the Ministry of Internal Affairs Directorate in the oblast does not exercise control over the departure from and entry into Ukraine of their residents. They only issue foreign passports. Neither does the oblast Directorate for Statistics and other oblast agencies have such information, because such reporting is not stipulated by operative legislation. Therefore it is impossible to provide information on the number of such oblast residents, the more so about their age groups.

An analysis of the problems of migration for employment abroad revealed that they are related to the high unemployment rate of employable people caused primarily by the closure of coal mines and other industrial facilities as a well as by decline in output. The acute social problems underlying these processes have not been dealt with to this day.

In 2002 alone, 17,850 new jobs were created in the region and 30,700 persons found jobs. The actual number of jobless who applied with city and rayon employment services amounted to 112,900 persons, 69,100 of them women and 33,500 young people.

The cities and rayons of the oblast have 16 business entities holding licenses awarded by the Ministry of Labor for recruiting people for employment abroad.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs directorates in the oblast records only people who were reported missing on the territory of Ukraine. Therefore no complete information is available about the region’s residents who are missing abroad, let alone about the countries where they are missing.

The departments of registration of civil status acts under the city and ryaon justice directorates do not have any information about the number of oblast residents who died or perished abroad as well as the causes of their death. Keeping such records is not within the competence of departments of registration of civil status acts and other organizations in the oblast. The following funds were allocated for burial of the deceased and perished abroad (Russian Federation):

In order to resolve the problems related to migration for employment and safeguard the Ukrainian citizens’ rights abroad, the oblast state administration deems it advisable to:

§ draft, approve and promptly put into effect a model Labor Agreement (contract) between the migrant worker and the foreign employer for consequent allowance for compliance with migrant workers’ rights when concluding bilateral inter-state treaties on reciprocal employment;

§ draft and adopt a law on state social insurance of Ukrainian citizens for temporary departure abroad for employment, for seasonal and temporary work included;

§ establish better cooperation with the migration services of the border oblasts of Russia and Moscow (with the largest concentration of Ukrainian migrant workers) and the employment centers of Ukrainian oblasts to inform demand in labor and comply with the requirements of agreements and other documents on employment and protection of alien workers.

MYKOLAIV OBLAST. The response forwarded to the Commissioner for Human Rights by the oblast state administration deputy chairman, H.Nikolaenko, contains information within the competence of Ministry of Internal Affairs Directorate in the oblast, the employment center, and the Department for Nationalities and Migration under the Mykolaiv state administration, as well as definite proposals.

Residents of the region were issued 86,459 foreign passports for travel abroad (see Table 4.8).

Table 4.8. Number of foreign passports issued to Mykolaiv oblast residents

According to the report on migration for employment abroad for the first six months of 2002, four firms – Vadmar, Nautilus Maritime Agency, Marine Star, and private enterprise Vlad Alex – had contracts with foreign business entities for employing Ukrainian citizens. Vadmar reported about having employed 24 persons in the Czech Republic (seamstresses, construction workers, and manual workers); Nautilius Maritime Agency arranged jobs in Switzerland, the UK and Norway for 109 persons (master, mates, ratings); Marine Star placed seven persons with employers in Germany, Turkey and Malta (master, mechanics, cook); and Vlad Alex placed 14 persons with jobs in Lybia (doctors, doctor’s assistant, nurses).

In 1999-2002 the Ministry of Internal Affairs Directorate in the oblast received reports about 50 people who died or perished abroad.

The oblast state administration believes that the problems of illegal migration can be dealt with by:

§ developing cooperation in the area of regulating migration for employment;

§ ensuring social protection of Ukrainian migrant workers and excluding discrimination against them;

§ preventing illegal employment abroad;

§ establishing between Ukraine and other countries reciprocal exchange of information about Ukrainian citizens working illegally abroad;

§ expediting the adoption of legislation, specifically Ukrainian laws on migration and illegal migration control.

IVANO-FRANKIVSK OBLAST. In response to the request of the Commissioner for Human Rights, B.Tomenchuk, deputy chairman of the oblast state administration, informed that the study of the referred to problems was a joint effort of the Main Directorate of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, the Ministry of Internal Affairs Directorate in the oblast, the oblast Employment Center, the National Bank of Ukraine Board of Directors, the oblast Directorate for Statistics and other competent agencies. The oblast Employment Center was performing its functions of implementing the Agreement between the Governments of the Czech Republic and Ukraine on Reciprocal Employment of Citizens signed in 1996. In the period from 1997 to 2001, the Employment Center accepted applications from 2,632 citizens who were issued permits for employment in the Czech Republic.

In 2002, 12 citizens applied to the Employment Center and were issued documents in compliance with the above-mentioned treaty.

At November 7, 2002, 16 of the region’s citizens were reported missing abroad (see Table 4.9).

Table 4.9. Number of Ivano-Frankivsk residents reported missing abroad, as of November 1, 2002

Ukraine’s consular posts abroad informed that 73 residents of Ivano-Frankivsk oblast died abroad in the period from 1999 to 2002.

In order to improve operative legislation on migration for employment and make more effective the current mechanisms of protecting the Ukrainian citizens’ rights and freedoms abroad, the oblast state administration proposed to:

§ conclude bilateral inter-state treaties on migration for employment with countries attracting the largest number of Ukrainians and develop mechanisms for the implementation of these treaties;

§ speed up ratification by Parliament of the Treaty on Social Security between Ukrainian and the Czech Republic signed on July 4, 2001;

§ introduce compulsory insurance of Ukrainian citizens before their departure for employment abroad.

AUTONOMOUS REPUBLIC OF CRIMEA (AROC). The response, signed by S.Kunitsyn, Council of Ministers Chairman of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, informed how the issues under review were studied and what proposals were forwarded.

In 2002, 667 AROC residents went abroad for employment, including 14 to Russia, four to the UK, 50 to Greece, 247 to Spain, 75 to Italy, 62 to Cyprus, 74 to the UAE, seven to France, 11 to Switzerland, six to Iran, 23 to Japan, nine to Libya, 67 to Mauritania, and 18 to Morocco.

Migrant workers from AROC by age and gender

Table 4.10. Number of AROC residents who perished abroad in 1999–2002

Diplomatic missions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informed that 78 AROC residents died (perished) in the period from 1999 to 2002 (see Table 4.10)

No information was provided about the causes of death and number of deceased transferred to Ukraine for burial.

Ukrainian citizens/AROC residents travel abroad for employment only through business entities holding licenses awarded by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy for this type of activity. Since these agencies frequently break license conditions for employment abroad, people seek jobs illegally and have to face disagreeable consequences.

To raise the standards for safeguarding the Ukrainian citizens’ rights abroad, the AROC Council of Ministers deems it necessary to continue setting up a system of state regulation of migration processes, create a state database of foreign employers, and deepen international cooperation in this area.

DONETSK OBLAST. As the deputy chairman of the oblast state administration, O.Tretiak, informed, at October 14, 2002 the region had 65 business entities holding licenses of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy for recruiting people for employment abroad.

According to the statistical reports submitted by these agencies, 3,367 residents left the region for employment abroad in 2001: 755 aged under 28 years, 1,263 under 40 years, and 1,349 over 40 years of age.

In the period from January to July 1, 2002, the number of such migrant workers was 2,031: 398 aged under 28 years, 715 under 40 years, and 918 over 40 years of age.

Residents of Donetsk oblast went to 16 countries for employment (see Table 4.11).

Table 4.11. Number of Donetsk oblast residents who went abroad for employment in 2001–2002

Regrettably, no opinions were offered as to the situation in migration of labor from the region. Neither was anything proposed on resolving the painful problems our migrant workers have to tackle outside the country.

KHMELNYTSKY OBLAST. In response to the inquiry of the Commissioner for Human Rights, A.Rodobudko, deputy chairman of the oblast state administration, informed about the number of the region’s residents currently abroad (by age categories): in all, 34,705 persons – 16,540 men and 18,165 women (see Table 4.12).

Sixty-four persons died or perished abroad: 14 in road accidents; one committed suicide; one was hit by a train; and five died under unknown circumstances. The police are investigating some of these cases. Relatives covered the costs for transporting 44 of the deceased for burial in Ukraine. Two of the deceased were buried in Italy, because their relatives had no available funds (see Table 4.13).

Table 4.12. Number of Khmelnytsky oblast residents abroad, as of October 1, 2002

Table 4.13. Number of Khmelnytsky oblast
residents who died or perished abroad

In the period from 1999 to 2002, UAH 4,650 were allocated from local budgets for the burial of deceased oblast residents who went abroad for employment.

Five persons are reported missing (three in Russia, one in Poland, and one in Italy).

Regrettably, the oblast state administration did not present its vision on the problem of migration for employment or ways of regulating it.

KIROVOGRAD OBLAST. A.Pereviznyk, deputy chairman of the oblast state administration, provided scanty information and a list of people who died or perished abroad. In nine months of 2002, 969 people departed from the oblast, 644 of them to the CIS countries, two to Baltic countries, and 323 to countries other than in the CIS. In the period from 1999 to 2002, 22 persons perished or died outside Ukraine. No conclusions were sent or proposals offered.

ZHYTOMYR OBLAST. I.Rafalsky, deputy chairman of the oblast state administration, informed that collecting the requested information was very difficult, because no one officially stated his intention to stay abroad for employment.

According to state statistical reports, only four Ukrainian citizens from the region were working abroad, three of them (aged 18 to 28 years) as domestics in Germany, and one (aged over 40 years) as a construction worker in Russia.

Those who have gone through such an experience said that they did not enjoy any protection from the government. Only in emergency cases did they get assistance from Ukraine’s diplomatic missions. Most of our citizens could not apply for assistance because of their illegal status, let alone in cases when they were young women employed in the entertainment business.

In the opinion of the oblast state administration, these problems could be tackled by concluding inter-state treaties that would stipulate optimum and not oppressive taxation and thereby promote the legalization of migrant workers.

It would also be advisable to improve relations with the Ukrainian Diaspora who could provide the required information about the labor market and act as an intermediary between our workers and the Ukrainian embassy in a specific country.

Therefore, government or representative delegations when planning to go abroad should foresee meeting representatives of the Diaspora to establish fruitful cooperation.

The problems of migration for employment abroad certainly deserve to be addressed by the Ukrainian Parliament and be governed by specially enacted legislation.

ZAPORIZHIA OBLAST. P.Mykhailyk, deputy chairman of the state administration, informed that according to the data of the Directorate for Statistics in the oblast, two persons, aged from 18 to 28 years, went abroad to the Czech Republic for employment.

The requested information is impossible to be obtained for the following reasons:

§ no monthly or quarterly records are kept on citizens going abroad for employment;

§ obtaining information through bank transfers is impossible;

§ migrant workers and everything related to them are not included in official records at the state level.

In this connection, the oblast state administration deems it advisable to conduct a monitoring aimed at modifying operative legislation on the protection of our citizens’ rights abroad.

VINNYTSIA OBLAST. V.Havrlyliuk, deputy chairman of the oblast state administration, completely agreed that the Commissioner’s monitoring was a timely effort.

Although migration for employment as well as for domicile abroad speaks of the democratic practices of our country, some alarming trends are being observed in this area.

Illegal employment abroad requires effective measures at the state and inter-state levels. Since the region does not have an agency for issuing visas and legislation does not provide for any accounting or reporting on foreign travel for any purposes, the oblast administration could not provide any information.

According to the data of the Main Financial Directorate in the region, UAH 9,348 were allocated for the return and burial of deceased citizens abroad – UAH 150 in 2000, UAH 5,673 in 2001, and UAH 3,525 in 2002.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs Main Directorate in Vinnytsia oblast informed that according to the data it received from Ukrainian embassies and consular posts, five Ukrainian citizens died in 2001 – one each in Italy, the Czech Republic, Poland, and two in Russia; and in 2002 the death of four citizens was registered – one each in Italy, Russia, France, and Portugal.

POLTAVA OBLAST. The response from the oblast state administration was received under the signature of V.Soshyn, manager of the department of nationalities and migration. As confirmed by the departments of the oblast state administration and territorial departments of ministries and agencies, above all the Ministry of Internal Affairs Directorate in the oblast, oblast Directorate for Statistics, the Employment Center, and the National Bank of Ukraine Directorate in the oblast, neither legislation nor regulatory enactments provide for accounting and reporting on the referred to issues.

The collection and compilation of information can be carried out:

§ at border checkpoints, provided they have the required computer equipment and are linked up with a computer network within the system of the Border Troops;

§ by the National Bank of Ukraine and its territorial outlets;

§ by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through its consular posts abroad.

The current procedures of issuing foreign passports and visas to Ukrainian citizens by embassies of foreign countries accredited in Ukraine (or visa-free travel under treaties with specific CIS countries) are sufficiently democratic, and therefore the issues of collection of and statistical reporting on such information should be dealt with first at the national and only then at the regional levels.

On its part, the oblast state administration deems it advisable to request the Government that it design a State Program of Counteraction Against Illegal Migration for Employment, which would stipulate a strictly defined system of control over the departure of Ukrainian citizens abroad and corresponding statistical reporting by the sectoral principle, and also control over the issue of licenses and the activity of tourist companies and business entities engaged in recruiting citizens for employment abroad.

No responses were received from the Rivne oblast administration (chairman M.Soroka) and the Sevastopol city state administration (chairman L.Zhunko).

After analyzing the information received from the regions, the Commissioner for Human Rights deems it necessary to point out the growing awareness of the issues, causes and consequences under review. Since no comprehensive state policy is in place, the regions are left to their own devices. Migration processes are not governed by legislation, while intermediary agencies practically recruit citizens for illegal work abroad, without being liable for either medical insurance or social insurance of their clients.

The Commissioner for Human Rights would like to thank those oblast state administrations that responded to the painful issues of migration and expressed their desire to cooperate within the framework of the monitoring On the Status of Observance and Protection of the Rights of Ukrainian Citizens Abroad. In the concluding section of the Special Report, Opinions and Recommendations, the Commissioner for Human Rights took into account the proposals offered by the oblast state administrations.

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