Members of Parliament propose granting a deferral to Ukrainians returning from abroad – Pidozra

The bill provides for a 90-day deferral that would be granted only once

A bill No. 16034 has been registered in the Verkhovna Rada that provides for granting a 90-day deferral from mobilization to liable Ukrainian citizens after returning from abroad or from temporarily occupied territories. This was reported by “Glavcom” with reference to the bill’s card and its explanatory note.

The document was registered on 4 September. Its authors are Members of Parliament Serhiy Kozyr, Yevheniy Brahar, Ruslan Horbenko, Vitaliy Voytsekhivskyi, and Heorhiy Mazurashu.

The bill stipulates that for 90 calendar days two categories of liable persons would not be subject to conscription.

The first are citizens who, as of 24 February 2022, were abroad or who after that date lawfully left Ukraine and continuously remained outside its borders until their return. For them the deferral would be counted from the day of entry into Ukraine.

The second category are Ukrainians who continuously lived in a temporarily occupied territory from the start of its occupation until arriving in territory controlled by Ukraine. This concerns, in particular, residents of Crimea, Sevastopol and certain territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions that were occupied as early as 2014, as well as territories seized later.

The MPs propose granting the deferral only once and processing it automatically through state registers. If the bill is adopted, obtaining such a deferral would not require submitting an application, documents, or personally contacting the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support (TC&RSS). At the same time, if the necessary information is not present in the registers, a citizen would be able to contact the TC&RSS and provide supporting documents.

The bill provides that during these 90 days a person could be mobilized only with their consent. A repeat trip abroad would not entitle one to receive a new 90-day deferral.

The authors explain the initiative by the need to give citizens time after returning to restore documents, arrange housing, resolve family, medical and employment issues, and organize military registration data.

According to the data cited in the explanatory note, mobilization was named as one of the barriers to returning by 29% of surveyed Ukrainians, and among men and youth up to 35 years old – 45%. If adopted, the law would come into force one month after publication.

Recall that earlier a bill was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on a deferral for one parent if the other permanently resides outside Ukraine or is abroad for at least 90 days during the year.