Ukraine looks for solutions to re-integrate people from temporarily occupied territories: what can be done now?

Human rights defenders, representatives of the authorities, people who had the experience of captivity and occupation, public figures, and volunteers who helped people survive and escape from occupation jointly developed practical solutions and sought compromises on painful issues. 

What is the problem?

According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, currently, 26% of Ukraine's territory is under Russian occupation, presenting significant challenges for residents. These challenges include detention, searches, loyalty checks to the Russian regime, forced passporting, filtration camps, compulsory service, propaganda, rewriting of history, and shortages of medicines and goods. The Center of National Resistance reports these issues in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) in the second half of 2023, with systematic violations of people's rights continuing into 2024.The longer the occupation lasts, the harsher these challenges become — both for children and adults.

What is the solution?

The two-day National Conference on the Temporarily Occupied Territories held in Kyiv initiated an open dialogue to uncover the issues and look for solutions.  Ukrainian decision-makers, volunteers, and activists discussed how to reintegrate Ukrainians who've been living under Russian occupation — and how to start doing that now.

How does it work?

When it comes to children in the occupied territories, Ukrainian experts claim, time is not on Ukraine's side. Even children who strongly identify with Ukraine struggle to resist the influence of Russian narratives after years in a distorted information environment Russian propaganda creates. In some regions, children have been forced to go to Russian schools for two years now and have not attended a single lesson in a Ukrainian school. Roman Hryshchuk, a Ukrainian parliamentarian, highlights the manipulative nature of the Russian education system, stating, "The task of the Russian education system is not to teach, but to change identity."

That's why Ukraine will need to work comprehensively with children who have been in the occupied space for years to come. Not only schools will need to be involved, but also families. Hryshchuk says it's not going to be as hard as it may sound, as most probably, during liberation, many supporters of the "Russian world" will leave to Russia following the occupiers, making it easier to reintegrate those who'd be left — people loyal to Ukraine.

However, as Hryshchuk states, certain steps to start reintegrating Ukrainian youth in the occupied territories need to be in the making now, prior to the future liberation. The parliamentarian revealed that Ukraine is already developing a system of education for children from the occupied territories, on the basis of the International Ukrainian School program. It will allow Ukrainian children to have access to classes in Ukrainian, under Ukraine's curricula, remotely. Most importantly, their access to the classes will be safe, without compromising them before the occupational authorities. Not only will this allow the children to receive Ukrainian education, it will also allow them to communicate with Ukrainians outside the occupied territories. 

According to the head of the Children's Voices Foundation, Olena Rozvadovska, faith is very important in the context of children: "Children under occupation must know that we believe that we can give them back their childhood." Many speakers also noted that the task of people in the occupation is not to be heroes but to survive.

Tamila Tasheva, the permanent representative of the president of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, emphasized a way to help people in the occupied territories: "Do not believe in the Russian psychological operations about the occupied territories."

She shares that there are people in Crimea who have not come to terms with the occupation, and in Donetsk, some people are ready to fight. "Even if it is one person in Donetsk, we have to help as much as possible because this is justice," Tasheva is convinced.

This brings us back to the problem of lack of proper communication with people in the occupied territories. As Hanna Mamonova, a journalist and documenter of war crimes with the project "The Reckoning Project: Ukraine Testifies," states, communication with Ukrainians in the Ukraine-controlled regions poses a danger for residents of the occupied areas, which significantly impacts the information Ukraine can gather from there.

That isn't a sufficient reason for Ukraine to cut all ties with its people in the occupied regions, Oleksandr Yakovlev, the mayor of the currently occupied Skadovsk, states. He emphasizes the necessity of keeping whatever connection Ukraine can maintain with them – even in the form of pension payments. Yakovlev believes that despite their inability to use these funds under occupation, they still feel that Ukraine continues to care for them. No cuts are acceptable, he insists.

Like Tasheva, Dina Urich, head of the direct aid department of Helping to Leave,  stressed the importance of helping people returning from the occupation when they are already in the territory controlled by Ukraine.

There is a significant information gap in the occupied territories. One of the key messages propagated by Russian propaganda is that "Ukraine has forgotten about you, and nobody needs you." However, individuals who have experienced the occupation and subsequently decided to leave share their experiences with those who remain, detailing how they are welcomed in Ukraine and the support they can receive from the state, society, and non-governmental organizations. 

She is convinced that this communication channel has incredible influence.

Nakhmet Ismailov, a representative of the volunteer community and a survivor of the occupation from Kherson, stressed the importance of the state engaging with individuals who have experienced occupation and captivity. He emphasized that these people can offer valuable insights into the pressures people face in the occupied territories, which can inform the development of government policies regarding these regions.

Oleksandra Romantsova, human rights activist and executive director of the Center for Civil Liberties, gave two very specific tips on how anyone can help right now:

1. to help relatives of captured Ukrainians;
2. to publicize the case of every civilian hostage and political prisoner of Russia. The second rule does not apply to prisoners of war because publicity only increases a person's price for exchange in this case.

"Relatives are those who will rehabilitate people after their release or bear the memory of injustice and the crimes that Russia committed against their relatives," Romantsova explains. They sometimes need help even in purely domestic matters, such as help finding a school for a child. 

As for the second piece of advice, the activist emphasizes, "The names of civilian hostages and political prisoners should be to everyone — both in Ukraine and abroad. You should spread it, translate it, and thus put pressure on the aggressor."