This is reported by Kyiv24
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, has signed a law that officially recognizes the forced relocation of Ukrainians from the territory of the Polish People’s Republic between 1944 and 1951 as deportation. This step is significant for restoring historical justice and protecting the rights of affected families.
Restoring Historical Justice
Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha emphasized that the signing of the law is a meaningful step in preserving the memory of the victims of deportation. He highlighted the importance of this decision for Ukrainian society:
“President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has just signed an important law through which we restore the memory of the forcibly deported Ukrainians from the territory of Poland between 1944 and 1951. A correct and dignified step that restores historical justice regarding this horrific crime.”
The Verkhovna Rada approved this law on July 16. The document defines the restoration of the rights of Ukrainian citizens among the deported as one of the key directions of the political, socio-economic, cultural, and spiritual development of the state.
Legal Status and Guarantees for the Deported
From now on, individuals of Ukrainian descent who were forcibly relocated from the Polish People’s Republic by decisions of the authorities of the then USSR and the People’s Republic of Poland between 1944 and 1951 officially receive the status of deported. The law guarantees these citizens, and in the event of their death, their family members (spouses, children) the right to compensation for material and moral damage caused by the deportation. The amounts and procedure for providing one-time financial assistance will be determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
The draft law was registered in the Verkhovna Rada back in 2019, and in 2021, the deputies supported it in the first reading.
It is worth noting that the intergovernmental agreement between the Ukrainian SSR and the Polish National Liberation Committee on the evacuation of the Ukrainian population from the territory of Poland and Poles from the territory of the Ukrainian SSR was signed on September 9, 1944, in Lublin.
Between 1944 and 1946, about 500,000 Ukrainians were deported from Polish territories to the Ukrainian SSR, during the Vistula Operation in 1947 – another 150,000, and from 1948 to 1951, over 41,000 individuals. As a result of these events, thousands of people were left without their homes, land, and property.
Since 2019, Ukraine has annually commemorated the anniversary of the deportation of indigenous Ukrainians from Lemkivshchyna, Nadsian, Holmschyna, Southern Podlasie, Lubachivshchyna, and Western Boykivshchyna, which took place between 1944 and 1951, on the state level on the second Sunday of September.