“The amendments to the Labor Code of Ukraine adopted by the Verkhovna Rada essentially outlaw any contacts with people living in the occupied territory of Ukraine, as well as with IDPs. In fact, this is a discriminatory norm that has nothing to do with the protection of national interests and which is proposed to be extended to all spheres of economic activity and forms of ownership,” she explains.
Among the problems of the law she singles out the fact that there is no legally defined concept of “ties with individuals whose place of permanent residence (stay, registration) is on the territory of the aggressor state or temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine”, which creates legal uncertainty.
“I am convinced that every Ukrainian has at least one acquaintance who is in the occupied territory, which, theoretically, can also be interpreted as a connection with a physical person.
Secondly, by adopting such norms we create conditions when, on the one hand, people in occupation will feel distrust towards themselves and second-rate, which will negatively affect their perception of Ukraine as a whole, and on the other hand we will encourage people from the controlled territory of Ukraine to break all ties with people in occupation. Let’s not forget that we get a lot of useful information, including for the performance of operations by the Ukrainian Defense Forces, precisely thanks to “connections with individuals in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine,”- she explained.
She added that, in her opinion, this law contradicts the official policy of the state, to support citizens who remain in occupation and the policy of reintegration of the occupied territories.
“And not talking about IDPs, who already constantly face a bunch of problems, including employment. The fight against traitors and collaborators is the task of pre-trial investigation bodies and prosecutors, not employers, so in this edition the Law cannot be signed by the President,”- she concluded.