During the legal aid reception, which took place today in the village of Pavshino, nearly two dozens of people have appealed to us with various problems.

The most critical issue on which lawyers have provided legal assistance was registration and renewal of identity documents. 13 cases regarding the registration of passports and birth certificates to persons who have reached 16 years of age were taken into consideration. Three cases regarding the preparation of documents certifying the ownership and registration of residence were also taken.

It is known that the absence of registration documents hinders the realization of many social and economic rights (health care, labor rights, social assistance and pensions), including the right of children to obtain education. Formally, the registration is a message about the place of residence of a citizen, but it is impossible to register in house which is also unregistered, this increases the negative impact of violation of the rights of Roma on housing. In practice, Roma people are trying to register whole families in a single or more houses, which are registered properly. However, this is also impossible due to the rules set forth in the registration restrictions (in a certain area more residents, than that prescribed in the legislation, can not be registered).

PS: The project “Empowering Roma communities of Mukachevo district in decision making at the local level” is implemented by Human Rights Fund “Progress” with the support of Roma program initiative of the International “Renaissance” Foundation.