Author
According to Ukrainian legislation, the MCC should have separate accommodations for men and women, with specific living quarters for pregnant women, parents with children, and families. The facility should include a medical centre with an isolator, as well as a kitchen, dining room, and laundry facility. Storage space for personal belongings, sports facilities, and the ability for detainees to move freely within the facility are also required. Detainees should be allowed to wear their own clothes, send and receive letters and parcels, and perform religious ceremonies. They should also have access to meetings with human rights defenders, lawyers, representatives of diplomatic missions or consular institutions, and international and human rights organisations. These provisions aim to ensure the well-being, privacy, and rights of individuals held in the MCC.
Journalist reportage of 2021 describes the living conditions in Zhuravychi MCC as satisfying. Everyone has access to high-speed internet. There are sports and children’s playgrounds on-site. Residents can order groceries from the shop if they can pay for them. The kitchen staff of MCC take into account the cultural and religious traditions of detainees’ meals, so, for example, they do not cook pork, only chicken and beef.[1]
On 4 April 2022, Human Rights Watch reported that third-country nationals were trapped in Zhuravychi MCC, Volyn oblast, after being detained for irregularly trying to cross the border into Poland before the Russian invasion.[2] Human Rights Watch also reported the presence of military personnel and vehicles near the Zhuravychi MCC. This puts detainees at risk, especially during active hostilities, as civilian objects could lose their protection under international humanitarian law or suffer from incidental casualties. The risk of indiscriminate attacks and constant electricity cuts contribute significantly to the vulnerability of the detainees and put their welfare at grave risk.[3]
In 2022, R2P and HIAS conducted a survey to identify the protection risks of the asylum seekers and refugees in Ukraine. Respondents staying in MCC reported poor living conditions and said they were denied the opportunity to apply for asylum.[4]
In September 2022, the SMS responded to R2P’s request for information on the measures taken by the government, highlighting safety measures taken in the detention centres, as well as the provision of food supplies and medical aid.[5]
In July 2023, the representatives of the Parliament Commissioner accompanied by UNHCR accomplished monitoring visits to the Volyn MCC. The monitors reported that detention conditions in the centre in general are satisfying.
Foreigners and stateless persons are provided with appropriate conditions for walking in the open air. There are sports grounds on the territory of the MCC for active recreation. During outdoor walks, men are separated from women and parents with children. Parents with children can spend their free time on the equipped playgrounds. Foreigners and stateless persons have meals prepared by staff cooks in the MCC dining room, where they are provided with food in accordance with their cultural and religious practices and traditions. The food is distributed by a staff member of the canteen. Persons placed in the MCC have access to religious literature and religious objects of their faith.
However, the Parliamentary Commissioner emphasised that detainees are not provided with food on their way to and back to the court hearings. In such cases, foreigners stay without food for the whole day. In some rare cases, officials of the territorial bodies of the SMS of Ukraine purchase food for accompanying persons at their own expense.
As a result of appeals from persons held in the MCC, the administration of the institution was recommended to take measures to improve access to writing stationery in order to exercise their right to appeal.[6]
Regarding access to education, children are very rarely placed in MCC, and if they are, teachers are expected to visit them and provide training.
In 2023, the Parliament Commissioner reported the tendency of SMS to detain foreigners within the premises of the territorial bodies of the SMS. It was found that the territorial branches of the SMS do not have facilities for the temporary detention of migrants. Foreign nationals are held for long periods of time in premises not equipped for long-term detention, namely in the offices of employees, while decisions are being made on their expulsion. For example, in the Main Department of the SMS in the Lviv region, there were cases of foreign nationals being detained for more than 13 hours, in the SMS in the Khmelnytskyi region – more than 15 hours, in the SMS in the Ternopil region – more than 8 hours.
As there are no special places for temporary detention of detained foreigners in the territorial bodies of the SMS, SMS officials have to take foreigners to MCCs as soon as possible, mostly at night, which are located at a great distance from the territorial bodies. However, it is not defined how long a foreigner could stay in a territorial office of the SMS, nor the procedure for providing them with food before being placed in MCC.
Accompanying foreigners to court premises, medical institutions and temporary detention facilities by separate territorial units is carried out by vehicles that are not intended for the transportation of detainees.[7]
Health care and special needs in detention
As provided above, asylum seekers have limited access to health care. The emergency medical assistance delivered to the asylum seekers by the State should be reimbursed by the asylum seeker. However, NGOs emphasised that requests for reimbursements are rare and usually medical facilities will not charge the person for urgent medical assistance.
The State Migration Service of Ukraine issued a number of instructions to carry out preventive and anti-epidemic measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the migrant accommodation centres (MCC) as well as in temporary accommodation centres (TAC) for refugees and health care centres operating there:
- Instruction of the State Migration Service of Ukraine on Counteracting the Spread of SARS of 11 March 2020 No. D/37/1-20 requested the institutions to implement anti-epidemic measures to combat COVID-19;
- Instruction of the State Migration Service of Ukraine on Additional Measures to Prevent the Entry of Acute Respiratory Disease of 13 March 2020 No. D/38/1-20.
In the course of monitoring visits to MCC, the representatives of the Parliament Commissioner recorded human rights violations. It was found that there is no control over how the staff and persons in centres use personal protective equipment. Due to the lack of non-contact thermometers, no temperature screening is performed for the staff of institutions or persons in custody.
Most of the MCC visited do not have a clear special procedure for the disposal of used medical devices, including personal protective equipment (medical masks and gloves), which creates a risk of infection with COVID-19 for both persons in custody and staff and visitors.
The monitoring visits identified that in most SMS institutions, persons in custody are not provided with a sufficient number of personal protective equipment.[8]
In addition, in 2021, the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights attended the MCC in the Volyn region and found out that vaccinations against COVID-19 for foreigners and stateless persons have not been carried out in this institution. As a result of the Parliament Commissioner’s response, the necessary vaccinations were organised for the detainees in the Volyn MCC.[9]
In 2023, the Parliament Commissioner reported a request from a Moroccan citizen detained in MCC to provide him with dental care. The foreigner reported a lack of funds to pay for medical care, thus the management of the MCC addressed the NGO “The Tenth of April” and the International Organisation for Migration in Ukraine to resolve the issue of payment for dental services. As a result, the foreigner was taken to a private dental clinic where he underwent treatment. The costs of the treatment were reimbursed to the private dentist by the International Organisation for Migration.[10]
[1] Volyn, Illegal Immigrants in Volyn Live Better Than Many Ukrainians, 04 September 2021, available in Ukrainian here.
[2] Human Rights Watch, Migrants, Asylum Seekers Locked Up in Ukraine, 04 April 2022, available here.
[3] Global Detention Project, Ukraine Immigration Detention Profile, 15 December 2022, available here.
[4] R2P&HIAS, Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Ukraine Addressing Protection Risks During Wartime, 05 April 2023, available here.
[5] SMS response to the R2P request for public information, 30 September 2022, No. 3-OP-241-22.
[6] Parliament Commissioner, Monitoring visit to the Volyn Migrant Custody Centre, State Migration Service of Ukraine, 25 July 2023, available in Ukrainian here; Parliament Commissioner, Report on the Results of the Visit to the Volyn Migrant Custody Centre of the State Migration Service of Ukraine, 06 July 2023, available in Ukrainian here.
[7] Parliament Commissioner, Special report of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights “On the State of Affairs with Regard to the Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Ukraine, 2023, available in Ukrainian here, e.g. 63-64.
[8] Parliament Commissioner, Observance of Human Rights and Freedoms in Places where People are Deprived of their Liberty during the Emergency Related to the Spread of an Acute Respiratory Disease COVID-19 Caused by Coronavirus SARS-COV-2, 2021, available here, e.g. 39-41.
[9] Parliament Commissioner, Annual Report on The State of Observance and Protection of Human and Civil Rights and Freedoms in Ukraine, 2021, available in Ukrainian here, e.g. 94.
[10] Parliament Commissioner, Following the Parliament Commissioner’s Response, the Right of a Foreigner to Medical Assistance and Treatment in Migrant Custody Centre was Restored, 20 December 2023, available in Ukrainian here.