Ukrainians who were forcibly resettled from Poland in 1944-1951 were recognized as deportees. The President signed the law

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed Law No. 2038, which now recognizes Ukrainian citizens who were forcibly resettled from the territory of the Polish Peopleʼs Republic in 1944-1951 as deportees. The law also provides for material and moral compensation and benefits for the deportees.

This became known from the draft law.

Now, such citizens will receive a one-time cash benefit every year. The deportees will also receive benefits provided for by the law on the status of war veterans, and their families will receive benefits provided for family members of war participants.

Benefits will be provided regardless of date of birth, because due to the loss of documents, many displaced persons cannot prove the fact of deportation. Therefore, the procedure for recognizing the status of a deportee will be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in cooperation with Poland.

What preceded

The deportation of Ukrainians officially began on September 9, 1944, after the signing of an agreement between the government of the Ukrainian SSR and the Polish Committee of National Liberation on the resettlement of Ukrainians from the territory of Poland and Poles from the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. Another agreement between the USSR and Poland of February 15, 1951, provided for the exchange of parts of state territories. As a result, more than 700,000 Ukrainians were forcibly removed from their native places.

The Constitutional Tribunal of Poland recognized on December 19, 2002, and the European Court of Human Rights confirmed on June 22, 2004, that the agreement of September 9, 1944, was signed without any legal basis, and all actions of forced resettlement were illegal.

The Polish law of July 8, 2005, uses the word "expulsion" to refer to these events, which once again emphasizes that it is about deportation.

• On November 8, 2018, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution commemorating the 75th anniversary of the start of the deportation of Ukrainians from Lemko, Nadsyany, Kholm, Podlasie, Lyubachiv, and Western Boyko regions in 1944–1951. This resolution established the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Forced Eviction, which is celebrated annually on the second Sunday of September. The parliament also officially recognized that these deportations were a violation of human rights.

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