Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights ON THE STATUS OF OBSERVANCE AND PROTECTION OF THE RIGHTS OF UKRAINIAN CITIZENS ABROAD SPECIAL REPORT OF THE UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Kyiv–2005 Zm-Tit-Ok.pmd 1 17.05.2005, 13:26 ÓÄÊ 342.7 (477) (042.3) ÁÁÊ 67.9 (4ÓÊÐ) 400.7 Ñ 76 This Report has been published thanks to the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine Nina Karpachova Ñ 76 On the Status of Observance and Protection of the Rights of Ukrainian Citizens Abroad Special Report of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights ISBN 966-7855-00-7 ISBN 966-7855-00-7 © N.Karpachova, 2005 Zm-Tit-Ok.pmd 2 17.05.2005, 13:26 CONTENTS Introduction .......................... 4 I. Migration from Ukraine for Employment within the Context of Global Migration Processes ................. 6 1. Main Causes of Migration for Employment . 6 2. Analysis of Statistical Data on Ukrainian Citizens Departing Abroad . 13 3. Global Problem of Migration of Highly Skilled Labor and the Brain Drain from Ukraine . 18 4. Financial and Political Consequences of Migration of Labor from Ukraine . 27 5. Impact of Migration Processes on the Demographic Situation in the World and in Ukraine . 33 6. The Legal Status of Ukrainian Migrant Workers and the Status of Observance of their Rights and Freedoms . 35 7. The Problems of Return and Deportation of Ukrainian Migrant Workers to their Homeland . 45 ²I. Status of Observance of Ukrainian Migrant Workers' Rights in the Receiving Countries .................. 50 1. Russian Federation . 50 2. Republic of Poland . 55 3. Turkey . 58 4. Other Central and Eastern European Countries . 61 5. European Union Members Countries . 65 6. Other Countries . 73 III. Status of Observance and Protection of the Rights of Specific Categories of Ukrainian Citizens Abroad ....... 76 1. Safeguarding the Rights of Ukrainian Seafarers Abroad . 76 2. Observance of the Rights of Ukrainian Citizens Deprived of Liberty Abroad . 85 3. Observance of Human Rights in Case of Death or Burial of Ukrainian Citizens Abroad . 103 4. Pension Provision of Ukrainian Citizens Abroad . 111 ²V. Problems of Migration for Employment as Viewed from the Regions .......................114 Opinions and Recommendations ..................144 Annexes .............................149 3 Zm-Tit-Ok.pmd 3 17.05.2005, 13:26 INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION In accordance with generally accepted rules of international law, whenever a citizen of any country is abroad he can count on the diplomatic protection of his country of origin if his rights and freedoms are infringed. This universal principle, enshrined in the constitutions of the majority of countries worldwide, has become a cornerstone for building the interrelations between the state and its citizens. In Ukraine, this principle is secured in the Constitution of 1996, Article 25: “Ukraine guarantees care and protection to its citizens who are beyond its borders.” Thereby the state actually undertakes to ensure the protection of the rights and freedoms of its citizens during their stay abroad. For Ukraine the problem of protecting its citizens abroad became especially acute right after the country gained its independence. After the visa regulations and frontier regime were liberalized, the migration flows across Ukraine’s ter- ritory increased sharply: while a large number of Ukrainian citizens traveled abroad for different reasons, the inflow of aliens into the country’s territory went up markedly. To a large extent these were spontaneous processes, because no legal frame- work was in place and the government lacked the experience in controlling migration flows. Neither were there any effective mechanisms to protect the rights of a large number of Ukrainian citizens who were abroad during crises situations. From the mid-1990s an ever growing number of Ukrainian citizens was leaving the country for economic reasons, primarily to seek employment else- where. For Ukraine migration for employment abroad gained dangerous propor- tions during the past five years following the aggravation of the socioeconomic situation in the period from 1994 to 1999. Millions of Ukrainian migrant workers, most of whom have been find- ing jobs in Russia, Western Europe and North America, have compelled the government to assess in a new way its role in the protection of the rights and freedoms of our citizens. 4 00-Vstup.indd 4 17.05.2005 14:25:33 INTRODUCTION The situation has become the more complex, since the majority of Ukraini- ans abroad are illegal migrants, one of the most discriminated and unprotected category of aliens whose rights are grossly infringed. As a result, more and more of our countrymen abroad are appealing for help to Ukrainian bodies of state authority, in particular the Ministry of For- eign Affairs. Quite a few of such appeals have been addressed to the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights. Every appeal is an expression of human pain and frustrated hopes of finding a personal solution or else saving the appellant’s dignity and frequently his life. Therefore, the Commissioner for Human Rights initiated a special moni- toring to study the complex problems related to the status of observance and protection of human rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens abroad, above all of migrant workers. The purpose of this study is to make an in-depth analysis of the men- tioned issues and offer recommendations and proposals to improve the avail- able mechanism of protecting the rights of Ukrainian citizens abroad, and also formulate a long-term government policy in the domain of migration relations with allowance for the prospects of global development and the interests of Ukraine and its citizens. The Special Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights is based on the analysis and generalization of the materials in the possession of the Commis- sioner as well as on the information received from the central bodies of state authority, specifically the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), State Commit- tee for Guarding the State Border (SCGSB), National Academy of Sciences (NAS), state administrations in the oblasts, Ukrinjurokelgia (Ukrainian Foreign Legal Collegium), and from a number of Ukrainian banks. By request of the Commissioner relevant information was also kindly provided by the diplo- matic missions of foreign states accredited in Ukraine. The committees of the Ukrainian Parliament, such as the Committee for Foreign Affairs, Committee for Human Rights, Ethnic Minorities and Inter-Ethnic Relations, Committee for Health Care, Motherhood and Childhood, and the Committee for Social Policy and Labor, also addressed the issues under review. In compliance with paragraph 3, Article 18 of the Law of Ukraine On the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, the Commissioner for Human Rights hereby presents the Special Report On the Status of Observance and Protection of the Rights of Ukrainian Citizens Abroad. 5 00-Vstup.indd 5 17.05.2005 14:25:33 I. MIGRATION FROM UKRAINE FOR EMPLOYMENT WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL MIGRATION PROCESSES I. MIGRATION FROM UKRAINE FOR EMPLOYMENT WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL MIGRATION PROCESSES 1. MAIN CAUSES OF MIGRATION FOR EMPLOYMENT Judging from different estimates, the world today numbers from 150 million to 175 million people (over 3% of the world population) who live outside of the countries of their origin, including about 12 million refugees and asylum seek- ers. This figure grows by at least three millions each year. Migration appeared and developed simultaneously with mankind itself. There is not a single country in the world that at different stages of its development was not affected by global migration processes in one way or another – either as a donor country supplying labor resources or as a receiving (host) country of labor. This development became the more evident with the emergence of the modern global economic system, when all countries are becoming more inter- dependent and interrelated. The global trends of today show that the problems of migration continue to distress mankind, becoming one of the most impor- tant factors of global changes. The understanding of the reasons of emergence and regularities of devel- opment of global migration processes makes it possible for every state to frame such a policy that would accord as best as possible with its national interests in this area. Without disputing the comprehensive nature of the reasons of global migra- tion processes, the Commissioner for Human Rights believes that their main factors are socioeconomic. If we look at the dynamics of the distribution pattern of incomes between different countries, we see the evident upward trend of the already dispropor- tionately large gap in the population’s average incomes between the industrially developed countries and the countries of the Third World. While in 1870 per capita income in the US exceeded nine times the similar rate in the world’s poorest countries, in 1960 this gap was 50 times as large. Accord- 6 01-Dop-1E.pmd 6 17.05.2005, 12:46 I. MIGRATION FROM UKRAINE FOR EMPLOYMENT WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL MIGRATION PROCESSES ing to the data of UN experts, the developing countries will be inhabited by an absolute majority of the world population – 7.8 billion (currently 4.8 bil- lion of the 6 billion). Today 80% of the world population is trapped in a struggle for survival, while in 25 years this rate will be about 90%. The opportunity to earn more than is possible at home is one of the rea- sons why hundreds of thousands of people leave their countries in search of a better lot abroad. What is decisive in this case is not so much the average income a migrant can earn as the difference in the incomes between the country of his destination and the country of his origin. There are a number of economic indicators which make it possible to asses the level of a country’s development and which, accordingly, impact on the geographical pattern of migration for employment.