Eleven Ukrainian civil society organisations and associations, which systematically address issues of human rights violations, forced passportisation and indoctrination in the temporarily occupied territories, have called for the resumption of operations by the Ukrainian passport service, the State Enterprise ‘Document’, in Turkey.
In their appeal, representatives of civil society expressed deep concern at the increasing isolation of Ukrainian citizens in the temporarily occupied territories from state and civil society institutions. Human rights defenders emphasised that for residents of occupied Crimea, this issue is of critical humanitarian importance.
For instance, without valid Ukrainian passports, young people in the occupied territories lose the opportunity to enrol in Ukrainian higher education institutions; citizens are unable to receive pensions and social benefits; they are deprived of access to state digital services and financial accounts in Ukraine; and they are unable to carry out legal transactions concerning property registered under Ukrainian law, in particular that located in Crimea.
Furthermore, among Ukrainian citizens who, due to armed aggression, are currently in the Republic of Turkey, there are many who, as their documents have expired, are losing their legal residence status in Turkey and are unable to apply for a residence permit, receive medical care or carry out banking transactions.
Alternative solutions to the problem – such as travelling to branches of the state enterprise ‘Document’ in Moldova or Bulgaria, or applying for a certificate to return to Ukraine – are not viable due to significant security and financial risks. Trips to Government-controlled territory in Ukraine or to third countries may be regarded by the occupying authorities as signs of ‘treason’ or, at the very least, disloyalty. This, in turn, increases the risk of enforced disappearances, torture and criminal prosecution.
Furthermore, human rights defenders have emphasised that attempts to compel citizens to travel in person to government-controlled territory in Ukraine, which is under constant shelling, contravene the state’s duty to protect its citizens during wartime. A separate obstacle is the difficulty of overland transit: children from the occupied territories who do not have a first ID card cannot cross the borders of third countries using temporary return permits, as such documents do not guarantee unhindered long-term travel and expose families to the risk of deportation or detention.
Representatives of civil society organisations are convinced that resuming the operations of the ‘Document’ State Enterprise’s branch in Istanbul or opening a branch in Ankara is the only safe, logistically feasible and economically viable way to maintain the legal link between Ukrainians in the occupied territories and abroad and their state. In addition to directly protecting citizens’ rights, this decision will significantly reduce the excessive workload on Ukraine’s consular offices in Turkey and ensure that people receive a swift and high-quality public service.
It should be recalled that the closure of Turkey’s only passport service, which was based in Istanbul, took place in May 2024 and severely hampered the exercise and protection of the constitutional rights of thousands of Ukrainians who had sought refuge from the war in the Republic of Turkey, as well as residents of the temporarily occupied Crimea.