On July 8-9, a visit to Kyiv took place by Miriam Karloli, Senior Advisor of ODIHR OSCE on Roma and Sinti Issues.
The purpose of the visit was to hold meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, and other state institutions to establish cooperation and provide technical assistance to enhance the effectiveness of the implementation of the “Strategy for the Protection and Integration of the Roma National Minority into Ukrainian Society for the Period up to 2020” and the National Action Plan.
This was not the first visit of an OSCE representative on Roma issues to Ukraine. However, it was very significant as it helped determine further plans for Ukraine and the work of the Roma contact point office on Roma and Sinti issues in Ukraine.
After a productive meeting at the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine, which was also attended by representatives of the Office of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, the “Vidrodzhennia” Foundation, and the NGO “Chirikli,” a decision was made to hold a series of events by the end of the year. The results of these events will serve as a starting point for more serious work in Ukraine and the provision of specific assistance by interested ministries.
An important issue discussed at all levels remains the documentation of Roma people, including passports, birth certificates, and registration of permanent residence. During the visit, Miriam Karloli and the NGO “Chirikli” organized a meeting with the State Migration Service to discuss problems related to passport issuance and how to improve the situation of documenting Roma people in Ukraine. An agreement was reached to start collaborative work.
During the meeting at the migration service, options for amending certain legislative acts regulating the issue of documenting Roma people in Ukraine were also discussed. However, this cannot be solely the responsibility of the migration service. It requires the establishment of a special group consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, the State Migration Service, the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine, the Ministry of Health, the judiciary, to develop and implement changes to a range of bylaws to simplify the system of documenting the Roma population in Ukraine.
Miriam Karloli’s visit yielded results that had not been achieved before. For a long time, OSCE has been trying to establish work in Ukraine related to the Roma direction. However, due to the lack of interest from individuals in power in Ukraine who were not inclined to address these issues, there were no results. This is the first visit in the past two years that has been very productive. OSCE representatives saw that there is political will in Ukraine to take certain steps to improve the lives of Ukrainian Roma.
