Author
As of 2024, there were three functioning detention centres for foreigners and stateless persons irregularly staying in Ukraine:
- Mykolaiv Migrant Custody Centre, brought into operation on 20 April 2018, with a capacity of 138 people at a time.
- Chernihiv Migrant Custody Centre, brought into operation on 18 July 2008, with a capacity of 236 people at a time.
- Volyn (Zhuravychi) Migrant Custody Centre, brought into operation on 12 September 2008, with a capacity of 192 people at a time.[1]
During 2024, 253 persons were placed in the MCCs. In comparison, 292 foreigners were placed in 2023. 377 persons stayed throughout 2024. In 2023, 362 persons stayed in MCCs. 131 persons were released in 2024 and 115 in 2023.[2][3]
In 2022, due to the full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine by Russian troops and the outbreak of hostilities, only Zhuravychi MCC remained fully operational.[4] The Parliament Commissioner informed that there were no foreigners in the Chernihiv MCC at least for July 2022.[5] In addition, the SMS reported that as a result of the shelling of the Chernihiv MCC on 30 March 2022, the dormitory and the dining room of the MCC were damaged.[6] In May 2024, the operation of the MCC in Chernihiv was resumed.[7]
According to the R2P, by the end of 2024, 48 foreigners, of whom – 43 men and 5 women (55 foreigners in 2023)[8] were held in the Zhuravychi MCC. Most of the people held in the Zhuravychi MCC are Russian citizens. A lot of detainees are foreigners who have lived in Ukraine for many years. Often, some of these individuals are ethnic Ukrainians.[9]
MCCs primarily house undocumented asylum seekers. These include individuals who applied to the migration service but were not issued with documentation, those unaware of or not seeing the necessity for the procedure due to long-term irregular residence in Ukraine, and others who lost their legal grounds to stay (e.g., many Russian citizens in Ukraine who cannot return due to safety concerns).
The acceptance of the applications and interviews is conducted through the weekly visits of the staff of regional asylum units to the premises of MCC. Separate rooms for meetings with the applicants are available. Interpretation should be arranged by the SMS office; however, translation services are mostly provided by compatriot detainees.[10]
In practice, access to asylum procedures from these detention facilities is complicated due to problems with access to sufficient information on asylum procedures and free legal assistance, and limited visits of the local SMS office to the MCC, in particular after February 2022.[11] This continued to be the case in 2024.
[1] SMS, Migrant Custody Centre, available in Ukrainian here.
[2] SMS Statistics 2023, available in Ukrainian here.
[3] SMS Statistics 2024, available in Ukrainian here.
[4] R2P, Internal report, 2022.
[5] Parliament Commissioner, Monitoring of the Chernihiv Migrant Custody Centre, 08 July 2022, available in Ukrainian here.
[6] SMS, As a Result of Russian Invasion of Ukraine, the SMS units suffered losses and destruction in excess of ₴11 million, 25 May 2022, available in Ukrainian here.
[7] Committee of Ministers, 1507th meeting (September 2024) (DH) – Action plan (02/07/2024) – Communication from Ukraine concerning the group of cases of Kebe and Others v. Ukraine, 11 July 2024, DH-DD(2024)779, available here.
[8] R2P, Internal report, 2023.
[9] R2P, Internal report, 2023; R2P, Internal report, 2024.
[10] UNHCR, 2018
[11] UNHCR, 2023.