Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk harshly criticized politicians who claim that internally displaced persons (IDPs) are returning to the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) on a massive scale. She emphasized that these words are nothing more than "lies and hype on a sensitive topic." Vereshchuk wrote about this in social networks, UNN reports.
Details
Recently, for some reason, some of our politicians have started to make statements that internally displaced persons are returning to the TOT in their thousands. These "politicians" claim that Ukrainians are allegedly going to the occupation because the state does not help them enough with housing, money and work. Here's what I'll tell you, irresponsible hype lovers: you are lying when you talk about thousands of IDPs returning to the TOT
She added that there are no confirmed statistics and cannot be.
"This is just hype for the sake of loud headlines," Vereshchuk wrote.
According to her, the state fulfills all its promises to IDPs, as far as possible in the conditions of war. Although assistance is limited, this is not a reason to go to the occupation. Ms. Vereshchuk noted that the state cannot give all IDPs an apartment, but there is housing for them. And there is also work for those who want to work.
"I will never believe that thousands of Ukrainians are going to the Russian occupation because of the lack of 2-3 thousand hryvnias a month of state aid," added Vereshchuk.
The Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine also emphasized that such statements by politicians are disrespectful to millions of Ukrainians who were forced to leave the TOT but were able to adapt and start a new life. Vereshchuk emphasized that such statements reinforce the enemy's narrative about the allegedly better conditions under occupation, which is detrimental to the state. In her opinion, these words have nothing to do with caring for people and are solely an attempt by politicians to draw attention to themselves.
Previously
MP, member of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Human Rights Maksym Tkachenko said that about 150,000 internally displaced persons have returned to the temporarily occupied territories. According to him, about 70 thousand of them settled in Mariupol. The reason for this return, Tkachenko said, is that the IDPs did not receive adequate support from the state, including housing, social benefits and employment opportunities.
Tkachenko later denied his statement.
"It was my unfounded and emotional assumption," he said.