For over a year and a half, temporarily occupied territories have existed in Ukraine—parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and the unrecognized "republics" of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). Of the nearly seven million residents of these regions before the occupation, according to various estimates, approximately half remain. The rest have left for various reasons. Some fled militants, others lost their homes.
This article will discuss displaced persons, their lives, and the challenges they face. It will focus on displaced persons living in a modular housing development in Dniprodzerzhynsk, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
This settlement was built with European funding, specifically from Germany. Essentially, these are field shelters, which were featured on television several times last winter, when the issue was in the media spotlight. At the time, it was said that such settlements existed in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and that displaced persons lived comfortably in them. Unfortunately, this is not the case, at least not in Dniprodzerzhynsk in the past few months.
Upon settling in the town, the settlers signed an agreement under which the family agreed to maintain cleanliness, order, and make timely payments. For their part, the administration pledged to provide comfortable accommodations and provide assistance in the form of cleaning supplies. However, in reality, things turned out to be less than rosy.
Until September 2015, all conditions were met, but after the director's change, the situation worsened. Specifically, the laundry room was now open only three days a week and only until 3:00 PM, regardless of residents' work schedules. Each residential block had a designated "warden," but these positions were filled by people with criminal records, alcoholics, and simply antisocial individuals. Ordinary residents were effectively given an unspoken choice:
1. Keep silent, because when people tried to calm down rowdy people who were drinking and partying until 3 a.m., they were told to go to hell and threatened with physical violence;
2. Attempts to resolve the issue peacefully by writing statements to the administration, police and the “control center for displaced persons”.
However, it turned out that all authorities were turning a blind eye to this. Here's an example:
It's 2 a.m., four to six people are drinking, and music is blasting throughout the building. Among the drinkers is a 30-year-old woman and her 60-year-old mother, who are caring for four children. These same children are running through the hallways screaming.
Attempts by other residents to speak to the administrator were initially unsuccessful—the administrator dismissed the matter, saying, "What am I supposed to do about this?" However, she was persuaded, after which the administrator went to talk to the drunken group. The conversation ended in failure, as it proceeded along the lines of "we giggled and then parted ways." The administrator's first remark was, "Oh, what wonderful kids! You all have such nice kids here!"
The townspeople then called the police, who subdued the rowdy group, and a report was filed for disturbing the peace. However, that was all. It turned out that all those involved in the nighttime incident had impeccable records, so they essentially got away with it.
According to other sources, these "elders" receive priority humanitarian and financial aid, often amounting to four-digit figures, while there are people in the town who receive nothing because they "were not informed."
Interestingly, no authority is doing anything. The administration merely informs people who filed the latest complaint, the police invariably request references, and, despite promising assistance, the Displaced Persons' Control Center hasn't responded for two months.
At the same time, ambulances and police come to the town almost every day.
It's important to note that similar practices are common in other regions, although the situation varies greatly depending on the administration. In the Odessa region, this has never been allowed, at least not in early 2015.
The situation can be summarized as follows: unfortunately, many international foundations and organizations providing financial assistance to Ukrainian displaced persons do not control the entire chain of events, from the transfer of funds to their intended use, and local administrators often profit from such charitable projects. What are the immediate risks? In the short term, some displaced persons will be left without medicine, money, and shelter. In the long term, foundations and international institutions will cut funding, demanding full reporting, investigations, and so on. And this, as we know, is a very slow process, especially given the murky waters of Ukraine's political and economic situation.
It's also worth noting that last year, several projects supporting CrimeaSOS and DonbasSOS displaced persons were shut down precisely because of funding cuts. One can only guess how many people this left without a livelihood.
Displaced person, for SKELET-info
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