‘Displaced Ukrainians confused over suspension of benefits’

LONDON: Ukraine has suspended benefits to more than 600,000 people on suspicion some are falsely claiming allowances meant for internally displaced people, the United Nations said, raising concerns that some IDPs are now unable to pay for food or rent.

Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 9,000 people since April 2014.

The United Nations estimates that more than 1.7 million people in Ukraine have been forced from their home with more than 3 million in need of humanitarian assistance.

The Kiev government announced the suspension of social benefits to hundreds of thousands of IDPs in February, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

Ukraine’s minister of labour and social policy Pavlo Rozenko told a local TV station that his ministry was verifying the identities of those registered as IDPs, according to an April 3 post on the ministry’s website.

Aid agencies were concerned about the suspension, OCHA said in an overview of the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, adding that: "IDPs must have access to social services, benefits, pensions and bank services without restrictions and limitations".

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said a lack of information about the suspension had created confusion among IDPs.

"The problem with the suspension is that ...there are still no clear procedures and information about it," said Hugues Bissot, UNHCR senior protection officer.

"This is creating confusion and frustration ...people don’t know if payments have been suspended or if it’s delays because of other bureaucratic issues," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from Ukraine.

Ukrainian government officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment.  Bissot said the suspension of benefits meant that some people were at risk of eviction from their rented accommodation. "We know of some people who are unable to pay the rent or electricity or buy food or pay for heating," he said.