A coalition of Ukrainian human rights organizations has written to Rishi Sunak, calling on him to “end the impasse” over the use of funds from the sale of Chelsea to support war victims in the country.
Almost two years after Roman Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK, the £2.5bn he received from the sale of Chelsea remains frozen in his UK bank account despite a promise to use it for humanitarian purposes. It remains as it is. Last month, the House of Lords’ European Affairs Committee said it was “incomprehensible” that this money remained untouched.
On Thursday, 58 organizations, including the Ukrainian Human Rights Union Ukraine 5am, signed a letter from the NGO Relief Group calling on Sunak to take action. “We, the signatories, including the victims and survivors of the Ukraine war, call on you to act to resolve the two-year impasse over the £2.5bn sale proceeds of Chelsea FC,” the letter begins, claiming about the funds. are doing. Funds should be “directed to the immediate needs of victims and survivors, with a portion of the funds repurposed to compensate survivors.”
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The government has admitted it has “differences of opinion” with Mr Abramovich over how the funds should be used, with the government insisting they should only be used within Ukraine’s borders, while Mr Abramovich has Insist on original conditions. The approved sale of Chelsea did not meet that specification, instead allowing the funds to be spent for “solely humanitarian purposes in support of all victims of the conflict in Ukraine and its consequences”.
The letter urges Sunak to overcome this stalemate and find another mechanism to unlock the money. “Given the large amounts of funding at stake, governments should consider various means of repurposing funds that are complementary and have the potential to maximize impact,” the report said. The book says: “We call for the proceeds of the sale of Chelsea FC to be allocated to humanitarian causes, reconstruction and reparation for victims of human rights abuses.” It has the power to enable people to move forward in their lives. ”
The letter urges Sunak to work with the Ukrainian government and civil society to “guide the repurposing of funds” and “to ensure that funds are distributed effectively and in a timely manner between government, civil society and survivors.” It calls for the establishment of a working group. It also recommends that the government should consider channeling some of the funds through existing mechanisms such as the Ukraine Victims Register, rather than through a proposed charity foundation that has not yet been properly established.
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The 5am Ukraine Coalition is a group dedicated to documenting war crimes committed by Russian forces in the country since the 2022 invasion. Other signatories to the letter include the Global Survivors Fund, the Coalition to Respond to Genocide, and the International Bar Association. the Institute for Human Rights and renowned human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy.
