Among all of the different ethnic communities that live in Ukraine, Roma communities seem to be the least integrated largely due to negative stereotypes and bias. Residents and local officials of some small towns and villages have tried to discourage Roma IDPs from settling in those places. In order to avoid discrimination, many Roma allegedly choose to conceal their nationality by pretending that they are Moldovan or Greek. The main struggles of the Roma community remain coping with poor living conditions, inability to obtain basic identity documents (birth and marriage certificates and passports) and overcoming obstacles accessing education, employment and healthcare. The Government tried to address these issues in 2013 by adopting the Strategy for the Protection and Integration of the Roma national minority into Ukrainian society for the period until 2020 and the Action Plan for its implementation. Roma representatives were not invited to participate in the development of the Strategy or the Plan. The two documents have been criticized for being declarative and inefficient; also no State funding was allocated for this programme. On 30 July, during their all-Ukrainian conference, the Roma Council of Ukraine presented a detailed analysis of the Strategy, based on which the delegates prepared an appeal to the Government with a request to: (1) revise or cancel the Strategy; (2) create an inter-agency working group to draft a new State programme, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Culture, with the participation of Roma community representatives; (3) Ukraine to join the Decade of Roma Inclusion. In the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, particularly those areas that were previously controlled by the armed groups, new challenges may arise. Media propaganda that was systematically used by the armed groups and the lack of reliable information about the ongoing situation from local authorities has created artificial tensions between the residents of these regions. Ethnicity and the language spoken were used as elements for creating differentiation. It is important to direct efforts at reconciliation and re-integration regardless of the ethnicity or language spoken. The Commissioner for Ethno-National Policy considers this as an important task and focus of his work for the nearest future. It is also important to secure the right of all ethnic minorities to effective and inclusive participation in decision-making processes, especially those that affect them and to enjoy their own culture freely without interference or any form of discrimination. IX. HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES IN CRIMEA The situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea during the reporting period was characterized by human rights violations and restrictions on freedoms affecting in particular minority groups, and a tense security environment, compounded by fighting in the east of Ukraine. Since the last report about 2,800 residents of Crimea were internally displaced from the peninsula to mainland Ukraine. Intimidation of political opponents, independent journalists and civic activists continued. Crimean law enforcement agencies have conducted raids in order to identify cafés, sales outlets and service providers operating illegally. Crimean Tatar representatives claimed that these actions were aimed at intimidating their community which largely opposed the March “referendum”; most of the cafés and facilities visited by the police and the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) were owned by representatives of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis (Assembly) or had been used for their meetings. On 22 July, the Mayor of Bakhchisaray initiated a procedure to terminate the lease of the building where the regional Mejlis is located. Many facilities built by the Crimean Tatars were constructed without authorization and have not been legalized and, according to Crimean Tatar activists, this is used to exercise pressure on them. 223 | P a g e