SIMFEROPOL, June 11. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian ombudswoman Ella Pamfilova said the flow of Ukrainian refugees to Crimea is rising.
"There's been a larger inflow of refugees from Ukraine, from Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, to Crimea," Pamfilova told Russian lawmakers on Wednesday as she presented a report on the human rights situation in Russia. "We have accommodated 2,000 refugees, but have problems with accommodating others," she added.
Pamfilova noted increases in prices of food and medicines in Crimea, as well as rising unemployment. "Crimea has many problems. There's been a dramatic increase in prices of medicines and foodstuffs," the ombudswoman said. "Earlier, they were supplied from Ukraine. We have to act and have supplies delivered to the border."
Also, there is a serious problem with medical service. Doctors' remuneration used to partially come from semi-legal funds collecting patients' money, but now these funds have been shut down.
Pamfilova blamed the idling property re-registration mechanism saying that companies were going bankrupt, wages were not paid and that people were laid off, which was causing social tension.
Pamfilova noted that 2,000 white-collar personnel had lost their jobs as a result of closure of 2,000 offices of Ukrainian banks on the peninsula.
Wage arrears are explained by slow transfer of budget-funded organization to Russian funding, and people spend too much time in queues to pay utility bills because there are not enough banks in Crimea, Pamfilova said.