H U M A N Buffeted in the Borderland

Ukraine

Buffeted in the Borderland

The Treatment of Migrants and Asylum Seekers in Ukraine

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

Buffeted in the Borderland

The Treatment of Asylum Seekers and Migrants in Ukraine

Copyright ? 2010 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-716-7 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez

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December 2010

ISBN: 1-56432-716-7

Buffeted in the Borderland

The Treatment of Asylum Seekers and Migrants in Ukraine

Map of Ukraine ....................................................................................................................1

I. Summary ......................................................................................................................... 2 Detention of Migrants .....................................................................................................4 Ukraine's Dysfunctional Asylum System......................................................................... 6 Unaccompanied Children................................................................................................7 Refoulement .................................................................................................................. 8

II. Recommendations .......................................................................................................... 9 To the Government of Ukraine........................................................................................ 9 To the Governments of Slovakia and Hungary ............................................................... 13 To the European Union.................................................................................................. 13 To UNHCR ..................................................................................................................... 15 To the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants.................................. 15

III. Methodology, Scope, and Terminology .........................................................................16

IV. Background ..................................................................................................................19 External Dimension of EU Asylum and Migration Policy ................................................. 19 Readmission Agreements ............................................................................................. 21 The EU-Ukraine Readmission Agreement.......................................................................23 EU Relations with Ukraine in the Spheres of Migration and Asylum ...............................25 EU Burden Sharing through Resettlement .................................................................... 29

V. A Dysfunctional Asylum System .....................................................................................31 Access to Asylum: The Failure of the SBGS to Forward Asylum Applications or to Inform Detainees of the Asylum Procedure...............................................................................35 Asylum Interviews.........................................................................................................38 Legal Gaps in Asylum Standards ...................................................................................40 Unaccompanied Children Seeking Asylum .................................................................... 41

Corruption in the Asylum Process..................................................................................45 Extradition and Ukraine's Nonrefoulement Obligations .................................................46

VI. Torture and Ill-Treatment of Migrants in State Custody ................................................ 50 Abuses upon Apprehension ..........................................................................................50 Torture during Interrogations ........................................................................................ 53

VII. Detention of Migrants and Asylum Seekers................................................................. 64 Legal Authority for Detention.........................................................................................65 Inadequate Legal Representation; Lack of Effective Remedies to Challenge Detention . 68 Paying for Detention and Transfers: Sanctioned (and Unsanctioned) Corruption ................72 Detention of Unaccompanied Children.......................................................................... 75 Lack of Gender Sensitivity and Cultural Respect ............................................................78 Preparations for Visitors: Clean Up and Concealment....................................................79 Conditions of Detention and Treatment in Detention .....................................................83 Specially Equipped Premises ........................................................................................84 Temporary Holding Facilities .........................................................................................87 Migrant Accommodation Centers ................................................................................. 92 International Standards on Conditions of Detention......................................................94

VIII. Protection, Education, and Housing for Unaccompanied Migrant Children................. 98 Age Assessment .......................................................................................................... 98 Access to Education and Housing ...............................................................................100 Housing for Asylum Seeking Children.......................................................................... 102 Housing for Children Deprived of Family Care.............................................................. 103 Single Adult Males in Centers for Families and Unaccompanied Children .................... 103 Access to Education.................................................................................................... 104 Trafficked Children......................................................................................................106

IX. Readmissions from Neighboring EU Countries ............................................................109 Slovakia ...................................................................................................................... 111 Hungary ...................................................................................................................... 116 Hungary and Slovakia's International Legal Obligations Governing the Returns of Migrants and Asylum Seekers and the Right to Seek Asylum ....................................... 120

Acknowledgements .........................................................................................................123

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