Due to lack of money, support program for displaced people has failed
The head of the Servant of the People party, Olena Shuliak, said that the state policy to support IDPs "has actually completely failed". According to her, without receiving assistance with housing, people "simply return to the occupation".
Shulyak said this when commenting on the statement of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets that there are fewer IDPs in Ukraine, Censor.NET reports.
"The number of IDPs is decreasing not because they find a new home in the government-controlled territory. They simply return to the occupation. They make a difficult choice, facing a dilemma: to live under occupation or in poverty without state support - they return to the TOT. In fact, the state policy on supporting IDPs has completely failed and is being covered up with penny-pinching payments like a fig leaf," Shulyak said.
"The main and basic need of IDPs is their own housing. Two government programs - eRestoration and eHouse - could help. Moreover, they are even synchronized: the certificate can be used as a down payment on a mortgage. It sounds powerful, but it is only on paper. The state mortgage program eOselya is simply inaccessible to IDPs by its terms and conditions, and only a few of them have been able to use it.
eRestoration for 2025 does not provide for state funding at all, only relatively small funds from international donors. And even if there were, there are no payments for housing in the TOT under the eRestoration programme, despite the successful Melitopol experiment. When will they be? Nobody knows.
At this time, the occupier is launching a large-scale information campaign. Of course, this campaign contains more lies and disinformation, but already now they are offering 45 thousand rubles in compensation per square metre of destroyed housing.
In the meantime, we hold endless forums and roundtables on the return of Ukrainians from abroad, calling for the creation of conditions for millions to return after the war.
Working discussions on the budget for 2025 are currently underway. I and the Committee on State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development, and Urban Planning submitted amendments to provide for funding for eRestoration. The result so far is like running in place - there are efforts, but no progress," Shulyak explained.
"If we do not change the approach to the IDP issue, we will get a part of society that will be filled with hatred for everyone, people who have become unnecessary in their own country. The consequences of such an attitude will be felt even through generations and will be inherited as an example of how the state can "take care" of its people," the head of the Servant of the People party summed up.
