A working meeting was held between the representative of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Belarus, Erol Arduç, and the regional leadership, heads of regional services, and the regional organization of the Belarusian Red Cross. During the conversation, bottlenecks in working with refugees and displaced persons were identified, where the assistance of international organizations is required.

Last year alone, more than 500 citizens of Ukraine applied to the regional Red Cross organization for assistance, as informed by its chairperson, Galina Zhelanova. Financial assistance totaling 98,588 rubles was provided to 269 displaced persons. They most need help with housing issues, specifically in finding accommodation and paying for it monthly. However, while previously payments were made through the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Belarus via the regional Red Cross organization, they have not been made for the past two years. The situation is further complicated by the unfinished construction of a crisis center under the organization's auspices, which previously helped resolve the most pressing housing issues for refugees and migrants. In this regard, the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee has appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic with a request for assistance from interested international organizations, particularly the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in this matter.

Another block of questions concerns the planned treatment of forced migrants and refugees, as well as reimbursement for the cost of long-term medications. The mechanism for interaction with healthcare institutions and "Pharmacia" in this area was once established; the issue was resolved by the regional organization of the Red Cross with the support of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Belarus. It would be desirable to resume such practices for the sake of people who were involuntarily forced to leave their homeland.

Erol Arduch shared plans aimed at cooperation with state bodies and public organizations of the Vitebsk region. In particular, he spoke about the intention to create a unified office that will operate on the "one-stop shop" principle.

"This is a very important issue – joint work with the UNHCR Representation in Belarus," said Vyacheslav Durnov, Deputy Chairman of the Regional Executive Committee. "We have a well-established and structured interdepartmental system involving social protection, education, healthcare, migration services, and the Red Cross. We have been working as a cohesive team for a long time because the first refugees from Ukraine began arriving here back in 2014. However, despite the established mechanism, there are exceptional, individual cases when a person needs, for example, to confirm documents or work experience for a pension. It is difficult to help in such cases because we do not have direct contact with the state structures of Ukraine, and the support of an international organization is important and relevant here."

vitebsk-region.gov.by