REFUGEE VOICES IN BELARUS, MOLDOVA, THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND UKRAINE “HERE TO STAY?” REFUGEE VOICES IN BELARUS, MOLDOVA, THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND UKRAINE CONTENTS Introduction 3 BELARUS 5 Situation for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Belarus –Barriers to Integration 6 Refugee Stories from Belarus 9 MOLDOVA 19 Situation for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Moldova –Barriers to Integration 20 Refugee Stories from Moldova 23 RUSSIAN FEDERATION 33 Preamble by Svetlana Alekseevna Gannushkina, Memorial Human Rights Centre, Migrants' Rights Network 34 Situation for Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Internally Displaced Persons in the Russian Federation –Barriers to Integration 41 Refugee Stories from the Russian Federation 45 UKRAINE 69 Situation for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Ukraine – Barriers to Integration 70 Refugee Stories from Ukraine 73 “HERE TO STAY?” REFUGEE VOICES IN BELARUS, MOLDOVA, THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND UKRAINE The stories in this collection are based on interviews conducted over Summer 2008 by refugee-assisting organisations in Belarus, Moldova, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, as part of ECRE’s project “The Protection of refugees, asylum seekers and forced migrants” sponsored by the European Union NGO project partners in the four countries interviewed 100 asylum seekers, recognised refugees, internally displaced persons and refused applicants identified from among their own client groups The people who were interviewed as part of this project did so voluntarily and in confidence They signed consent forms and were assured that their stories would be presented anonymously and would have no bearing on their asylum case or current status The majority of interviews took place in Russian, and were subsequently translated into English Some of the people interviewed were keen to speak publicly about their experiences and most had strong opinions about the asylum system they had encountered, and the situation they found themselves in The stories have been gathered from a wide geographical area, from the North Caucasus to the borders of the European Union The people interviewed share their stories, some recalling them chronologically, others concentrating on one particular aspect of their experience Some people concentrated on the barriers they face in trying to integrate into their new host society and starting a new life there, others are still traumatised by flight Some feel at such risk that they are not able to look ahead, and await further assistance with resettlement to another foreign country Many different emotions were expressed, from distress at recalling traumatic experiences, to anger, frustration, impatience, disbelief at their treatment as asylum seekers to relief, contentment and gratitude towards their hosts In editing the original interviews we have tried to remain faithful to the voices of those who are telling their story We have not tried to corroborate the stories in this publication as they represent the experiences of those who have sought protection in the region in their own words In some cases, we have added contextual details about relevant policy and legislation where we feel it helps to clarify someone’s experience and with the intention of drawing attention the challenges refugees and asylum seekers continue to face in Belarus, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine today We would like to thank ECRE’s NGO partners for the hard work they put into collecting these testimonies, and particularly those people who agreed to share their stories with us BELARUS SITUATION FOR REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS IN BELARUS –BARRIERS TO INTEGRATION Belarus Refugee Stories SITUATION FOR REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS IN BELARUS – BARRIERS TO INTEGRATION The Belarusian Red Cross interviewed a total of 20 A related problem is that refugees who are employed refugees and asylum seekers in Belarus for this publication illegally are not paid their social allowances or pension ECRE is publishing 6 of these stories According to UNHCR’s contributions They do not accumulate length of service latest statistical yearbook 649 people in total have been and it is often difficult for them to prove previous work granted refugee status in Belarus and there were 10 asylum experience, which further hinders their prospects for seekers at the end of 2007 1 gaining better employment in the future Moreover, if the person cannot show that he/she was involved in permanent Finding adequate housing, along with access to regular paid employment for a certain minimum period of time, and sufficient income, is one of the most pressing problems he/she cannot be registered as unemployed and therefore faced by refugees in Belarus Most refugees and asylum does not have the right to the corresponding benefits Most seekers live in large cities where the issues of housing are of the important services related to employment, including most acute There is no national policy on integration or further training, subsidies for starting a new business and investment in this area There is no state financed housing job placements are only available for registered persons 4 for refugees (apart from temporary accommodation centres for asylum seekers in Vitebsk and Gomel) and there are no There is also a trend of discrimination in the labour resources for assistance in this area despite the acuteness of market and employers often prefer to hire Belarusian problems with housing citizens to refugees General misconceptions abound, that, for example, refugees are not eligible for some professions The majority of refugees have no other option, except to even if no real limitations actually exist Refugees may also rent an apartment, which for many refugees is the biggest be unable to demonstrate sufficient fluency of one of the item of their family’s monthly expenditure Refugees who official languages, Russian or Belarusian are employed receive relatively sufficient wages, but as they rent apartments and often have large families, they struggle Although the majority of refugees have good spoken to make ends meet The story of an Afghani refugee, Russian, and some can read, their knowledge is often Basheer, illustrates the extent of the difficulties many insufficient Only a few understand Belarusian though the refugees face with housing in Belarus knowledge of one of the two official languages is sufficient The minority of refugees understand Russian poorly such as Living conditions vary but a large number of refugees women who do not work and do not actively engage in the continue to live in difficult and unsatisfactory conditions The life of the local community main problem for refugees in need of better housing is the provision of all the necessary documents such as registration Only a small number of refugees have benefited from at the place of residence, family certificates, proof of income, official programmes and language courses and the courses identification documents, and marriage certificates 2 which have been held, have been not always been as effective as they could have been due to low attendance For most refugees obtaining sufficient, regular income Refugees say they lack time and resources as they have to is one of the greatest barriers to integration in society prioritise working to earn a living for themselves and their Although unemployment is generally low and in many parts families Refugees who have recently arrived in Belarus do of the country, especially in rural areas, there is a shortage not usually understand Russian If they also have a poor of labour, refugees are faced with numerous obstacles in understanding of another common language, English, accessing employment Competition for the higher paid jobs for example, social interaction can become a significant is significant and often limited to big cities or the capital problem 5 It is difficult for refugees to compete with local citizens or Russian-speaking migrants, and they often prefer to work At present, there are Russian language courses unofficially This is despite the fact that many refugees have financed by UNHCR and run by the Belarusian Red Cross vocational or higher education Working at the market either However, attendance at these courses is voluntary and not officially or unofficially is usually more profitable than regular compulsory for the newcomers employment Of those interviewed, the majority either worked themselves or had someone in their family who worked in the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine – “A Strategy for Action”, Cross-Border Cooperation/Söderköping Process in cooperation with UNCHR, the market It is rare for refugees to gain employment that would International Organization for Migration and the Swedish Migration correspond to their professional skills 3 Board, funded by the European Commission, 2008 4 Country reports 2007: Belarus, Moldova, Russian Federation and 1 http://www unhcr org/statistics html?gclid=CJiDkqWJnZgCFYwh3god Ukraine - Situation for refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced i1JgnQ persons (IDPs), European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), funded 2 Country reports 2007: Belarus, Moldova, Russian Federation and by the European Commission Ukraine - Situation for refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced 5 Country reports 2007: Belarus, Moldova, Russian Federation and persons (IDPs), European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), funded Ukraine - Situation for refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced by the European Commission persons (IDPs), European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE), funded 3 The Local Integration