On 24 November 2016 Filippo Grandi visited the areas around Sloviansk, Luhansk and Donetsk, which are heavily ravaged by shelling and fighting and met with a number of civilians, particularly those in need such as the displaced, the disabled and the elderly. This visit enabled him to witness the precarious daily life of residents on both sides of the line of contact. Besides general security issues and heavy restrictions on freedom of movement, checkpoints and other bureaucratic procedures remain a formidable obstacle to the access to medical care and other social services. Pensioners, for instance, must stand in long queues amid bitter weather to cross the checkpoints and enter the government-controlled areas to be able to collect their small pension, as buses cannot go through the no man’s land between checkpoints. Disabled people and their carers have been displaced – some of them more than once – and have to make do with basic equipment.
A report released in early December by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine states that over 2.000 civilians have so far lost their lives as a result of the conflict, whereas the number of those injured in eastern Ukraine ranges between 6.000 and 7.000. It also regrets not being provided full and unhindered access to detention facilities in the territory controlled by armed groups in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which raises concerns about the deterioration of human rights abuses and regression of fundamental freedoms.
For further information:
http://www.un.org.ua/en/information-centre/news/3991-un-high-commissioner-for-refugees-appeals-for-easing-of-restrictions-on-movement-across-contact-line-in-eastern-ukraine
http://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2016/11/5834b0a64/grandi-meets-million-displaced-ukraine-conflict.html
http://www.un.org.ua/en/information-centre/news/4001-civilians-in-ukraine-continue-to-suffer-un-report
http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20496&LangID=E