Ukraine’s top law enforcement officer is stirring passions after complaining that too many foreigners are being allowed to live in the nation.
Ukraine’s top law enforcement officer is stirring passions after complaining that too many foreigners are being allowed to live in the nation. Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko’s remarks sparked allegations that he is xenophobic and racist.
At a July 15 meeting with Kyiv police, Lutsenko asked the head of the department of citizenship, immigration and registration of physical persons how many foreigners had received residency permits in Kyiv.
After hearing the answer “70,” Lutsenko replied: “Why? Is our own labor force not enough? Do you want to go to China? Buy a ticket and go there on vacation.”
Lutsenko went on to say: “You may consider me a racist, but I won’t allow Kyiv to become another Kharkiv or Odesa,” presumably implying that both cities have a high number of nonSlavic residents.
“The situation is like this: we will give permits only if they are married to one of our [women],” Lutsenko said. “Because with such numbers, I will have to invite Vietnamese and Chinese into the police instead of you!”
Lutsenko’s comments come during a volatile time in race relations in Ukraine.
Human rights groups and nonSlavic racial minorities – a population measured at some 5 percent in Ukraine are complaining about a rise in raciallymotivated violence. They accuse police of doing little to combat and solve these crimes.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians are expressing unease with the growing number of migrants in the nation, many of them in transit to European Union nations.
In the aftermath of the scandal that erupted after his comments, Lutsenko defended his statements by saying that they were taken out of context. According to him, about 4,000 foreigners received residency permits in Ukraine recently, but the majority of these documents were fake.
Some are demanding Lutsenko’s resignation, while others came to his defense.
“It seems to me that Lutsenko’s gone off his rocker,” said Savik Shuster, a prominent TV personality and journalist in Ukraine, after hearing about Lutsenko’s statements.
“This goes against all norms. If Lutsenko wants Kyiv to stop developing…I don’t want to say anything offensive, maybe he just sat in the sun for too long. It seems to me this is a very bad idea,” Shuster, who has Canadian and Italian citizenship, told Sevodniya newspaper on July 16.
This isn’t the first time that Lutsenko has said words to this effect. Not long ago, on a trip to Lviv, Lutsenko reportedly said that he didn’t want Lviv to “become a Chinatown.”
His remarks are certainly illtimed, coming as the nation struggles with a reported rise in the number of racially motivated crimes.
Amnesty International recently issued a 40page report on racism in Ukraine and found discrimination to be a major problem among law enforcement.
The press service of the Ministry of Interior said that Lutsenko was merely trying to make a point that registration of aliens is a serious issue, and his concern is based on his contention that foreigners in Kyiv committed three times more crimes against Kyivans than crimes committed by Ukrainians against foreigners.
Some politicians came to Lutsenko’s defense.
“I think it was merely a sharp emotional statement meant to attract attention to solving the problem (of illegal migration). I have never seen racist manifestations from Lutsenko,” said Anatoliy Semynoha, a member of parliament from the bloc of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.
On July 18, Lutsenko opened a new temporary residency for illegal migrants in Chernihiv oblast in northern Ukraine. The minister also said a similar center that can accommodate up to 500 people is scheduled to open in Volyn region by this autumn, and several more in eastern and southern Ukraine in 2009.
A readmission agreement between Ukraine and the European Union may cause an increase in the amount of illegal migrants detained by Ukraine after the twoyear transition period, when the EU has the right to hand over any migrants that illegally crossed Ukraine’s border to reach the EU.
At the opening Ian Boag, head of the European Commission envoy to Ukraine, said the EU would allocate 30 million euros to go towards implementation of the readmission agreement.
According to Lutsenko, the ministry has detained more than 20,000 illegal migrants in Ukraine over the last five years. About 4,700 were detained in the first half of 2008.
“I talk to people … These foreigners often live in Ukraine half illegally or illegally, so there is discontent from Ukrainian society on this problem,” said Andriy Parubiy, a parliamentarian in Our Ukraine bloc. “Every state tries to regulate these processes (immigration) with the help of some laws for protecting the borders from illegal foreign immigrants. I can say that this problem exists in Ukraine and it should be solved.”
Some experts are urging Lutsenko to do more to improve his image.
“It is important that public officials do not exacerbate negative generalizations and stereotypes about the influence of foreigners on Ukrainian society,” said Tad Stahnke of Human Rights First, a New Yorkbased advocacy group, adding that Lutsenko’s comments are “particularly harmful” given the background of prejudice and violent hate crimes in Ukraine.
This is not the first time Lutsenko has tarnished his public image with illadvised behavior. Lutsenko made headlines when he struck Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetskiy following an argument at a National Security and Defense Council meeting on Jan. 18. Despite calls for his resignation, Lutsenko kept his position and efforts to prosecute him over the episode never went anywhere.
Elisabeth Sewall can be reached at [email protected] or 4964563, ext. 1091.
