Verkhovna Rada approves draft bills on the rights of diaspora Ukrainians (01/26/03)

Verkhovna Rada approves draft bills on the rights of diaspora Ukrainians

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - The Verkhovna Rada passed initial versions of two bills on January 17 that would give ethnic Ukrainians who do not have Ukrainian citizenship special status and simplified entry procedures into Ukraine.

The bills, which would give diaspora Ukrainians official status and their own identification cards, are nearly identical except for almost negligible differences in the interpretation of the word "foreign-based Ukrainians," the term used in both documents to identify the group that falls under the bills' provisions.

The version presented by National Deputies Yevhen Hirnyk and Yevhen Zhovtiak of the anti-presidential Our Ukraine parliamentary faction also utilizes the term "diaspora Ukrainians," which the bill submitted by National Deputy Andrii Derkach of the pro-presidential Labor Ukraine faction and National Deputy Ihor Ostash of Our Ukraine does not.

However, perhaps the biggest difference between the two proposals is that one was developed by the anti-presidential forces of Our Ukraine, while the other bill was prepared and presented jointly by representatives from both sides of the aisle in the politically divided Ukrainian Parliament, which gives it a better chance for approval when time comes time to vote on one of the two proposals.

Speaking on Ukrainian television after passage of the first reading of the draft bill, Our Ukraine National Deputy Taras Chornovil said simplified entry procedures for diaspora Ukrainians would open new avenues for interaction with Ukrainians around the world. He added that it would also allow Ukraine to better defend those ethnic Ukrainians who are mistreated or denied human rights in some countries across the globe.

Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian community leaders have lobbied for some time for a law to delineate the status of those former citizens of Ukraine who were forced to leave their homeland over the last several decades for political or economic reasons and now would like a chance to be able to visit freely and even do business in the country.

Both proposed laws would allow those who can show a link to their ancestral homeland and who apply for the special status the ability to enter and live in Ukraine for up to 120 days annually without a visa. It also would allow qualified foreigners to live in the country for up to three years without requiring an invitation from either a Ukrainian individual or an organization. In addition, students who qualify would be able to study at a Ukrainian institution of higher learning without a formal invitation.

In both draft laws the definition of a "foreign-based Ukrainian" is a person "of Ukrainian nationality or of Ukrainian ethnic background with cultural and language awareness, who has the desire to obtain the status of a foreign Ukrainian, who is at least 16 years of age and is not currently a Ukrainian citizen."

The Our Ukraine bill is slightly more specific in delineating requirements to obtain such a status. It would extend that status to any person who can show that one of his parents is an ethnic Ukrainian. It also specifies that a child adopted by a person or persons who qualify as diaspora Ukrainians also can obtain the status.

An individual would be required to go through a screening and registration process at either the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or a foreign Ukrainian Consulate to obtain a status card, which would come with an associated cost.

The proposed bill must obtain approval after amendments and at least one more reading before one of them can be enacted.

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