There are no exact statistics on number of Ukrainians who have returned from abroad for permanent residence – Ombudsman’s Office
There are no accurate statistics on the number of citizens who have decided to return to Ukraine for permanent residence from abroad.
This was reported by Olha Altunina, a representative of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, in a commentary to Ukrinform, Censor.NET reports citing Ukrinform.
"There is no need for this. The UN Crisis Group gives this figure, and it changes every month. We see trends, we see that our Ukrainians do not stop going abroad. Over the past year, more than 400 thousand more left. So this process continues," Altunina said.
She emphasized that the State Border Guard Service has data on the entry of citizens into the territory of Ukraine. However, they are not proof of return, as Ukrainian citizens can also stay in Ukraine temporarily and return to Poland or Germany for permanent residence.
"Unfortunately, it is impossible to say (how many people return to Ukraine for permanent residence - ed.). Now the Border Guard Service sees that a person has returned, but it is not known whether this is not a temporary return for a month. Perhaps this person will leave again. Therefore, there is no reliable figure," she said.
According to her, the number of internally displaced persons in Ukraine has not decreased recently.
"Despite the fact that the Russians are occupying more territory of Ukraine, the number of IDPs inside the country is not increasing (official statistics of citizens with certificates of internal displacement - ed. There is also an order to increase the number of territories that are considered to be in active hostilities. It seems that we should have more IDPs, but there are no more of them," explained the ombudsman's representative.
At the same time, Ukrainians often do not want to admit that they have left the territory temporarily occupied by Russia.
"Internal migration is happening. Imagine, almost 900,000 people migrated within the country over the past year - not IDPs. That is, people are looking for cheaper housing, jobs, and better conditions. It's unpleasant to admit, but there is discrimination against IDPs. And sometimes people move to another region and do not admit to schools that their child is an IDP so that the child does not experience discrimination," Altunina added.
