Ukraine's parliament decides on measures to handle illegal migrants
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has passed a bill allowing no more than 18 months to establish the identity of illegal migrants before expelling them from the country.
Some 228 MPs voted in favor of respective bill No.3159 "On amendments to several laws of Ukraine regulating legal support for foreigners or other persons without citizenship and regulating issues related to preventing illegal migration" in its second reading during a parliament session on Thursday.
"We previously did not have a (legal) mechanism to expel persons [who could not prove their identities]. We have now established a mechanism, having taken into account the observance of human rights, to prevent illegal migration," Georgiy Logvinskiy, an MP who sits on the parliament's committee on human rights, minorities and inter-ethnic relations, elaborated on the bill.
The Law "On the legal status of foreigners and persons without nationality" says that the category of people without legal grounds to stay in Ukraine and who are subject to mandatory expulsion from the country will be kept at temporary holding facilities for the period required in order to establish their identity and to ensure their compulsory expulsion after a period exceeding 18 months (according to current law, the period is only 12 months).
Ukraine's Code of Administrative Offences provides for holding foreigners or people without citizenship at temporary facilities if they arrive in Ukraine illegally for no more than six months. If there are no grounds for their expulsion, their stay may be extended, but for no longer than 12 additional months.
The Code regulates certain aspects of the detention of foreigners and people without citizenship who are subject to mandatory expulsion.
An explanatory note attached to the bill says passage of the measure is necessary to fulfill requirements for Ukraine to qualify for visa-free travel in Europe. The measure will take effect a day after it is published.