Today, on November 10, the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group on conflict resolution in Donbass held a meeting in videoconference mode. Commissioner for Human Rights in the DPR Darya Morozova commented on the results of the subgroup’s work.
“The meeting began with consideration of the issue of opening checkpoints at the delimitation line. Unsubstantiated information that all checkpoints in Donbass had begun to work starting November 10, which was distributed by the press service of the United Forces of Ukraine, caused a stir and required additional clarifications.
In the course of the talks, I once again informed the participants that today the procedure of crossing the DPR State Border with Ukraine is carried out only through the Yelenovka customs checkpoint. It works twice a week: on Monday and Friday. At the same time, the rules of crossing remain unchanged. To leave the DPR, you must have a residence permit in the territory controlled by Ukraine, or permission from the Interdepartmental Operational Headquarters for the Prevention of the Importation and Spread of the New Coronavirus Infection Caused by 2019-nCoV. Entry into the DNR is based only on the list formed by the HQ. The rest of the checkpoints located on the border of the Donetsk People’s Republic and Ukraine are closed, which is one of the measures to maintain a stable epidemiological situation in the Republic.
It is difficult to say for what reason Kiev distributes false information about such a socially important issue. This may be explained by the unprofessionalism of the performers or another provocation. Nevertheless, I call on the Ukrainian side to observe the current format of crossing the border line and not let the unilateral opening of the border occur, since such a step poses a direct threat to the safety of the population,” Morozova said.
She also said that during the talks they were discussing the issue of procedural clearance of people displaced to the territory of the DPR during the exchanges of 2019-2020, noting that no progress has been made about this issue.
“Ukraine still does not provide us with information that would indicate that the necessary work in this area is being done on their side. Out of the total number of citizens displaced to the territory of the DPR during the 2019-2020 exchanges, only one person has been procedurally cleared so far. In fact, criminal prosecution against the others continues.
I would like to note that on its part, the DPR has fulfilled all its obligations. Further developments directly depend on the actions of the Ukrainian side. Kiev must adhere to the agreements and finish the previous exchanges. Only after that we will be able to proceed to discussing and agreeing a new procedure,” the ombudsperson stressed.
