Stories of return - Ukraine

Husband and wife with two children age 8 and 3 came to Estonia from Donetsk Oblast and applied for asylum. However they were tired to wait for their asylum decision and contacted IOM Office to find out about return options back to Ukraine as they had financial difficulties. After return Reintegration support has been provided by IOM Kiev to the family. They invested their Reintegration grants into small family business. They opened a Play room for children, where kids can come and play or celebrate birthday parties. They had seen many of those while in Estonia, and knew that there were none in their hometown, thus when discussing return and their options they immediately considered this business for their in-kind reintegration and something that would support their livelihoods back home. They also invested some of their own funds in order to pay the rent of premises and used the reintegration support to renovate and decorate the playroom. Reintegration grants for their own children were invested into their education – they have purchased school uniform, stationary, books and clothes, monthly fees for sport trainings and kindergarten have been covered as well under Reintegration grant.