Scores of migrants who had been unlawfully detained in Ukraine remain imprisoned and are at increased risk as a result of the hostilities, including military activities in the area. Ukrainian authorities should promptly release arrested migrants and asylum seekers based on their migratory status and allow them to reach safety in Poland.
Human Rights Watch conducted a telephone interview with four individuals detained at the Zhuravychi Migrant Accommodation Center in Volyn’ oblast in early March 2022. The detention facility is a former military barracks in a pine forest about an hour’s drive from Lutsk, a city in northeastern Ukraine. All respondents stated that they had been imprisoned in the months preceding the Russian invasion for attempting to cross the border into Poland illegally.
The men requested that their nationalities not be revealed for security concerns, but stated that people from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Syria were being imprisoned there.
The European Union (EU) has long supported Ukraine’s border control and migration management initiatives, as well as funding the International Center for Migration Policy Development to build the perimeter security systems at Zhuravychi MAC. The essence of the EU’s approach has been to halt the flow of migrants and asylum seekers into the EU by transferring the weight and responsibility for migrants and refugees to neighboring nations, in this instance Ukraine. Now that Ukraine has devolved into a war zone, the EU should do all possible to ensure the release and safe transit of persons held in Ukraine due to their migrant status. United Nations agencies and other international actors should back our request for the release of civilians at Zhuravychi and any other active migrant detention camps, as well as give aid when appropriate.
Migrants and asylum seekers are presently imprisoned in the midst of a conflict zone, and they are understandably afraid. There is no justification for putting civilians in immigration custody after more than a month of this crisis. They should be promptly released and given the same rights as other people to seek sanctuary and safety.
Right now, there is so much suffering in Ukraine, and so many civilians who need to find protection and asylum.” Foreigners detained in immigration detention camps should be included in efforts to assist individuals fleeing Ukraine.
