STATE POLICY OF UKRAINE ON INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS: MECHANISMS OF FORMATION AND IMPLEMENTATION

Abstract

The authors address the problems faced by the international community in ensuring the protection of persons who were forced to flee their homes against their own will, but who remained within the borders of their own country. The article highlights the mechanisms of formation and implementation of the state policy on internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine that have been adopted since 2014; the Ukrainian state and the Government are shown to be taking measures to ensure the effective functioning of the current system of social support for IDPs; it has been proven that the priority in the policy of protection of IDPs’ rights in the near future should be given to the adoption of short- and medium-term decisions aimed at introducing effective mechanisms for meeting the basic needs of IDPs and ensuring their access to quality administrative and social services; it has been found that Ukraine takes all possible measures provided for by the Constitution, laws of Ukraine and international treaties to prevent the occurrence of prerequisites for forced internal displacement of persons, protection and observance of the rights and freedoms of IDPs, creation of conditions for the voluntary return of such persons to the abandoned place of residence or integration at a new place of residence in Ukraine; it is revealed that people who have moved to another city or region due to the war in Ukraine can become full participants in economic and social life in their new community. An effective mechanism for this is the councils of internally displaced persons at local and regional governmental bodies (IDP councils), created within the framework of the «Union for Action» program.