Verification of IDPs in Ukraine: Ministry of Development proposed two possible paths.

The Ministry of Community and Territorial Development reported the necessity of verifying Ukrainian citizens who temporarily left the occupied territories. This is needed to determine their location within Ukraine.

Deputy Minister of Community and Territorial Development Oleksii Riabikin emphasized two possible paths for this determination.

'When it comes to 2.8 million people who temporarily left the occupied territory of Ukraine. However, we cannot say that these 2.8 million are currently on the territory of Ukraine. We know that 1.3 million people receive certain social benefits from the Ministry of Social Policy. It is likely that the vast majority of them are probably on the territory of Ukraine. But whether all 2.8 million people who left the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine are on the territory of Ukraine, we cannot say at this time. The issue of verification is extremely important'

Riabikin noted that the first path is the verification of the existing database.

'This is 4.6 million people (who currently have IDP status in Ukraine - ed.). And, in principle, from this information, we have already verified this data to some extent to build our ministerial products'

The second path requires funding for additional benefits for internally displaced persons.

'When the state offers some support to other internally displaced persons who do not have such a certificate, they will be able to come forward to confirm their status as internally displaced'

Riabikin also noted that anyone who left Kyiv for Kyiv Oblast on February 23, 2022, had the right to formalize the status of an internally displaced person.

'And as long as this person does not personally go to the relevant authority and does not write a statement to remove this status, they will be considered a displaced person. At the same time, many people who are internally displaced do not have such a certificate. After all, they did not wait for evacuation. They left somewhere. Therefore, it seems to me that there are two possible solutions here'