Updated Law on Internally Displaced Persons: What Will Change in Registration Rules?
On July 1, 2026, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted an updated version of the Law of Ukraine “On Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Internally Displaced Persons”. The law will enter into force in October, and new rules for registering internally displaced persons (IDPs) are expected to take effect at the same time.
These rules are currently set out in Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 509, adopted in 2014. Yet millions of people who have been forced to flee their homes because of the war depend on how these rules are updated to ensure continued, unhindered access to state support and guaranteed services.
The Coalition of Human Rights Organizations – including East SOS – has prepared recommendations to bring the existing rules in line with the amended law. They aim to prevent internally displaced people from having their rights curtailed or facing new barriers once the law enters into force. Coalition representatives warn that, without appropriate amendments, some of the new provisions could create additional obstacles.
One of the most concerning provisions of the amended law is the possibility of removing a person from the IDP register without their application, including where the state has designated their community as “safe for return”.
However, the fact that a settlement is no longer included on the list of areas where hostilities are taking place does not mean that a person has somewhere to return to. Their home may have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable; the community may lack jobs, healthcare, or social services; and the person may already have spent years rebuilding their life elsewhere. In such circumstances, the automatic termination of state support could effectively pressure people to return despite the absence of the necessary conditions.
Another serious concern is the new approach to children born into IDP families after their parents were displaced. The law deprives these children of the right to obtain an IDP certificate, even though they are growing up in families living in conditions of internal displacement. Such an approach risks discrimination: children of IDPs could lose access to certain state programs, social guarantees, and administrative services simply because they were born after their parents were forced to relocate.
Although the amended law requires the state to take the interests of such children into account when providing assistance to families, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine must develop a mechanism for implementing this provision.
East SOS stresses that no child should be less protected because of their date of birth. The absence of an IDP certificate must not become grounds for restricting a child’s rights or creating additional bureaucratic barriers.
Digital and administrative barriers that IDPs already face remain another concern. Some people who were displaced before 2022 are still unable to use electronic services because their data are missing from state information systems. Children may find that their status is not reflected in the system after they obtain their first passport, while local authorities continue to request documents that are not required by law.
The new registration rules should not create additional barriers. Instead, they should address existing technical gaps, ensure the reliable operation of state registers, and guarantee equal access to services for all IDPs.
The Coalition of Human Rights Organizations calls on the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine to update Resolution No. 509 in advance, involve civil society in developing the new rules, ensure that people cannot be automatically removed from the IDP register, and guarantee that no child or family loses access to their rights because of legislative or technical gaps.
The full text of recommendations is available below.
The document was developed with the participation of:
• NGO Civic Holding GROUP OF INFLUENCE
• ZMINA Human Rights Center
• Crimean Human Rights Group
• Stabilization Support Services Charity Foundation
• NGO CRIMEASOS
• East SOS
• NGO Crisis Insight
• Right to Protection Charitable Foundation
• NGO Donbas SOS
Recently, civil society organizations called on the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to repeal a requirement that threatens the safety of applicants from the temporarily occupied territories.
