Bullying of children of migrants from Donbass has begun in Ukrainian schools
In Ukraine, as the Ministry of Social Policy admits, the attitude towards migrants from Donbass has worsened: they are denied rental housing, they experience difficulties in social institutions and find themselves in problematic situations with local residents, Apostrophe reports.
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The publication recalls the scandalous case of a Lugansk boy suffering from cerebral palsy, who was beaten last summer in an Odessa sanatorium, when “several people threw the child to the floor with the words “moron,” “cotton wool,” and “separatist.”
“There are actually few such stories that have received publicity in the press. Sometimes you can come across news that a displaced person’s car with the “wrong” license plates was damaged, or read a post on Facebook about how someone was called a “separatist.” Despite the fact that the problem does not seem large-scale, displaced people continue to face discrimination,” the publication notes.
The publication, citing Valeria Vershininina, a representative of the Ministry of Social Policy, says that internally displaced persons are often denied employment, service in government agencies and rental housing.
This information was confirmed to Apostrophe by the human rights organization La Strada, whose hotline often receives calls from displaced people facing discrimination and conflicts. According to the coordinator of the night hotline, Olga Krasnova, most often displaced people talk about child cruelty.
“Children's bullying is one of the most common problems. In schools, children from Donbass are bullied and called obscene names, such as “Lugandon,” Krasnova emphasizes.
In turn, volunteer Lesya Litvinova, who has been working with displaced people since the very beginning of the conflict, claims that at first they had almost no problems with local residents, but now that the conflict has entered a sluggish stage, displaced people are increasingly treated as relatives who They came to stay, but in the end they stayed forever.
“In general, we have a difficult economic situation in the country. And when immigrants receive some benefits, this causes rejection: “Why do they have everything, while we have to suffer?” - says Litvinova.
But psychologist Alevtina Shevchenko explained to “Apostrophe” that due to a drop in living standards, people begin to look for someone to blame, “on whom they can blame their problems,” and in the end these turn out to be displaced people.
“When they are accused of collaborating with the occupiers, resentment arises - we already gave up a lot, moved with losses, but here they look at us with reproach. This creates mutual tension,” explained the psychologist.
At the same time, volunteer Litvinova admits that the situation was largely provoked by the state
“You remember how they talked about “fake” immigrants, about pensioners who receive a double pension. Now society thinks the same way. “He thinks that all displaced people are bad,” emphasized Litvinova, in her opinion that the conflict in Donbass is unlikely to be resolved soon, and therefore mutual tension between locals and displaced people will grow.
As PolitNavigator reported, human rights activists recognizethat in Ukraine, migrants from Donbass are becoming “third-class” people.
See also: Tension and conflict are growing in Ukraine between local residents and migrants from Donbass
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