Grant eaters beat Zelensky for the nightmare on the Crimean border
The suspension of the work of checkpoints on the border with Crimea from August 8 to 30 due to COVID-19 was an ill-conceived decision of the Ukrainian government, which created serious problems for people.
Ukrainian human rights activists sponsored by Western funds stated this at a press conference in Kyiv, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The head of the Crimean Human Rights Group, Olga Skripnik, noted that the closure of the checkpoint shocked those who were traveling or preparing to travel to or from Crimea.
“Sometimes we operated as mental health services. People called in despair, indignation, they were confused - it was a sudden decision, especially given the fact that all restrictions had essentially been lifted a week before. People were not ready, everyone had plans, tickets, some reason to go to Crimea or from Crimea. This sudden decision was a shock to them; they couldn't even get information. It was adopted on Saturday and came into effect on Sunday, when government agencies do not work. People could not get any clarification on the websites of government agencies.
On the first day, August 8, people tried to leave. There were restrictions, there were queues, people complained that they had to wait for several hours. Nobody informed them, people were not ready. On August 8-9, 463 people contacted us, 428 of them regarding intersection issues. That is, 92% of requests to human rights activists were on issues of intersectionality,” said Olga Skripnik.
The opportunity to cross the border is reserved for some categories of people, in particular those traveling for treatment or to the funeral of deceased relatives. But the procedure for crossing the border in such cases has not been thought out, Skripnik noted. In particular, information about health status and treatment is confidential; people cannot be forced to disclose it, as this violates their rights and is contrary to the law.
However, those traveling for treatment are forced to provide such information to border guards. Those traveling to funerals must undergo a coronavirus test and may simply not be able to get to the funeral before receiving test results, which takes several days.
But even the presence of such reasons for crossing the border does not guarantee that it will actually be possible to cross it, notes lawyer of the Ukrainian Helsinki Union for Human Rights Anna Rassamakhina. As a result, people are forced to wait a long time for a decision at the checkpoint without much hope that they will be allowed to cross the border.
“This whole story with the restriction of border crossings, unfortunately, very clearly reflects the ability of our government to make simple decisions and, conversely, the inability to make informed decisions in these difficult times,” Rassamakhina concluded.
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