Ombudsman reports unequal rights for IDPs in Ukraine

The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets has stated that there are serious problems in Ukraine's state policy towards internally displaced persons and citizens who remain in the temporarily occupied territories.

He said this in an interview with Radio Liberty.

According to the Ombudsman, the state policy on internally displaced persons is "fundamentally failed". One of the main reasons is the lack of a specialized body that would comprehensively deal with the issues of IDPs and the occupied territories.

Lubinets recalled that these functions were previously performed by the Ministry for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine. In 2024, it was renamed the Ministry of National Unity, and in 2025 the government decided to liquidate it.

The Ombudsman also drew attention to the lack of a complete and up-to-date state register of internally displaced persons. In his opinion, the state does not have accurate data on the number of IDPs, their needs, the amount of assistance they need, and the losses they have suffered due to the occupation.

Separately, Dmytro Lubinets criticized the different approach to supporting IDPs depending on when they left the occupied territories. According to him, citizens who became IDPs after the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022 have access to a wider range of assistance and compensation programs, while IDPs who left the occupied territories in 2014-2022 often cannot use similar support.

The Ombudsman called this situation discrimination against different categories of internally displaced persons and emphasized the need to create a unified state policy for all IDPs, regardless of the time of their resettlement.

Lubinets noted that he has repeatedly raised these issues in his annual reports and continues to insist on a comprehensive review of state policy in the field of support for IDPs and citizens living in the temporarily occupied territories.

Андрій Колісніченко