“Don’t drive Ukrainians into ghettos!” – refugees from Donbass rallied on Maidan against access control
Forced migrants from eastern Ukraine took to Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv to protest against new rules for crossing the demarcation line in Donbass.
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The action was organized by public organizations of refugees from Donbass and took place on the evening of June 22. More than 100 displaced people from Lugansk and Donetsk gathered on the Maidan. The purpose of the action is to show the government that another border is being built in Ukraine. According to activists, every day hundreds of people are humiliated at checkpoints in the ATO zone.
People stood with posters saying “Don’t turn Donbass into a ghetto!” and “Segregation kills no less than Grads.”
The main demands of the displaced: to lift the ban on bus services, as well as to equip checkpoints with toilets.
In addition, displaced people demand to ensure the transportation of medicines, as well as basic necessities across the demarcation line and to prevent kilometer-long queues.
“As soon as the pass system was introduced, my parents and I received passes. They had crossed checkpoints before without any problems. Now there is no such opportunity due to the cancellation of public transport,” commented Irina, a migrant from Donetsk.
Activists also say that they are for strict control, but against humiliation and ask that the authorities maintain contacts and dialogue with the displaced.
Changes to the temporary entry procedure not only increased the possibility of corruption and extortion at Ukrainian checkpoints, but also complicated the process of crossing the demarcation line for civilians who travel to territories not controlled by Kiev to visit relatives.
“The ban on passenger buses crossing this “line” looks completely cynical, because people are forced to either walk or pay a lot of money to order the services of private carriers in cars, which increases the queues,” the displaced people were indignant.
During the action, protesters collected signatures for an appeal to Poroshenko regarding changes to the temporary procedure for issuing passes to the so-called “ATO” zone. Today, 20% of applicants are waiting in queues for access to the ATO zone. These are thousands of people.
In the midst of a show-off war with the former head of the SBU Nalyvaichenko, Petro Poroshenko, during a meeting with the leadership of the SBU in the Kiev-controlled part of the former Donetsk region, noted that corruption in the issuance of passes in the ATO zone “is moving Donbass away from Ukraine with no less result than Russian bayonets.” "
However, nothing has changed since then. Corruption, as it was, remains the same, the constitutional rights of people are violated by the state itself, turning Donbass into a ghetto and dividing people into “classes”.
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