Bureaucracy is Preventing Aid From Entering Ukraine

During war times, speed must be prioritized, not bureocracy.

Dear readers,

As many of you know, assistance from the international community is one of the most important factors determining the future of this war.

We need governments to increase their humanitarian aid and military assistance to the Ukrainian people. 

Similarly, we need to keep encouraging NGOs and other civil society organizations to keep their focus on the war, so they can keep helping the Ukrainian people in their quest for freedom and sovereignty. 

This is why we need to denounce something that is going on at Ukraine’s border. 

Today, it was informed to us that the Ukrainian government introduced new regulations for humanitarian aid entering the country. 

The Ukrainian government has introduced new rules for humanitarian supplies deliveries.  

In a message sent to us this morning, someone bringing aid from Poland said to us:

“Now you must go to the customs office, fill in a large bureaucratic form and list everything you have, how many kilos everything weights, names-address-contact details of the sender and the recipient, passport copies, copies of the car passport, then you must make a copy of the declaration and go to a different customs officer who then write again exactly the identical information you provided in the form. Then the officer stamps your UA border entry ticket, which finally allows you to leave and move into the country.”

This is really problematic, as the new regulations slow down the delivery of aid in a dramatic fashion, which is the last thing we need during these difficult times.

When talking about it with Mykhailo Lavrovskyi, he said the following:

“The situation nowadays is that if you are a volunteer and want to bring aid here, you need to have documents from the NGO that confirm what you are bringing and where. Plus, you need to fill out the declaration form where you should state all the items you are bringing. That creates the big lines on the border and a ridiculous situation when you could easily exit the country (e.g., Poland) but need to have this hell of bureaucracy on the Ukrainian side. This creates the impression that we don't need this help.”

“The main point is that Ukraine should lift all bureaucracy on the border, allowing people to bring their aid without declarations,” Mykhailo added.

So, I just want to echo Mykhailo’s statement. We have to ask the Ukrainian government to lift all bureaucracy at the border. This is not a time to prioritize bureaucracy. This is the time to prioritize speed and to be as open as we can to all the help we can gather from governments, international organizations, NGOs, etc. 

#SlavaUkraini 

By Jorge Jraissati

Jorge Jraissati is a Venezuelan economist and freedom advocate. He is the Director of Alumni Programs of Students For Liberty, an NGO advancing the ideas of a free society in over 100 countries. Beyond SFL, Jorge is a research consultant for IESE Business School, an economist from the Wilkes Honors College, and the President of Venezuelan Alliance, a policy group specialized in the Venezuelan humanitarian crisis. Jorge is a weekly columnist at Freedom Today Network.