Refugees from Ukraine are wrongly denied status entitling them to medical care, social benefits, or assistance
Date:
The Commissioner for Human Rights intervenes again on the issue of refugees from Ukraine who are wrongly denied status entitling them to medical care, social benefits, or assistance( the “UKR” status).
The Commissioner has received numerous complaints from war refugees from Ukraine deprived of their UKR status. According to the Act on assistance to Ukrainian citizens this status is revoked if a person leaves the territory of Poland for longer than 30 days. The complaints show that in recent weeks Ukrainian citizens have lost their UKR status despite returning to Poland from Ukraine before 30 days. Moreover there have been cases in which the status has been revoked despite an uninterrupted stay in Poland. In many cases Ukrainian citizens find out about it by accident, such as when their social benefits are withheld. The Commissioner identifies several problems related to the registration and assignment of the UKR status.
The Government Plenipotentiary for war refugees from Ukraine Paweł Szefernaker was asked by the CHR to address this issue but so far has not submitted his response.
