EU to look into humiliating treatment of Ukrainian labor migrants by German police

July31200820:35

The regrettable incident involving Ukrainian labor migrants and German border guards created ripples in Europe. Ten Ukrainians were deported and subjected to humiliation when searched by police – due to differing interpretations by officials of the law in the Shenghen zone. Public organizations and state institutions in Ukraine and the EU voiced their concern over the maltreatment of Ukrainians. The case will be analyzed by the EU visa group, Lviv lawmaker Larysa Fedoriv told ZIK July 31.

The group plans to analyze Shenghen zone border-crossing procedures, various interpretations of the law and the treatment by Germans of Ukrainian labor migrants.

Larysa Fedoriv, the whistle-blower on that particular incident, says she sent appeals to Ukraine FM, ministry of labor and social policy as well as demanded a session of VR committee on European integration. Former FM Borys Tarasiuk told his colleagues in the Europarliament about the sad incident. Ukraine FM was quick to send a strongly-worded note to Germany demanding that the incident be analyzed.

“This is not an isolated incident when Ukrainians were humiliated by border guards. Ukrainian athletes who crossed the border in the same infamous place also reported brutal treatment. Another mind-blowing case involved a Ukrainian doctor working for a charitable institution. On her way back to Ukraine from Hamburg, border officials confiscated her luggage and put cufflinks on her. Luckily, her German colleague was quick to blow the whistle to Bundestag, and the Ukrainian was freed and officials even apologized to her,” The Lviv lawmaker recounts.

Ukrainians are humiliated and treated as third-grade people, Larysa Fedoriv continues, because our government has not taken sufficient care about Ukrainians traveling in Europe. It is high time the law on labor migrants be approved by VR,” she says.

The lawmaker gave the details of the accident. The Ukrainian labor migrants were returning to Ukraine after legal work in agriculture. They crossed German territory at night in a bus. Close to the Germany-Poland border they were stopped by police who behaved brutally swearing at Ukrainians, refusing to give them food and water while in detention. The Ukrainians were shocked when German officials told them they would take away 1,500 euros (out of 2,000 earned by them) from every one to pay the costs of deportation and the fine. What happened to the Ukrainians was very appalling, she concluded.