Ukraine’s parliament has passed a law giving<br />“special status“ to rebel-held areas in the east of the country.<br /><br />They will be given a certain amount of self-rule for three years, including the right to create their own police force, to appoint prosecutors and judges and manage their own economy.<br /><br />Kyiv also passed a second law granting amnesty to pro-Russian separatists including fighters and politicians.<br /><br />The special status will only apply to rebel-held areas which take up around a third of the Donbass eastern region.<br /><br />The heads of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic, and self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic tentatively welcomed the new law. However, many of the rebels are demanding full independence.<br /><br />The new laws were promised in a ceasefire agreement signed by President Petro Poroshenko on 5 September.<br /><br />More than 3,000 people have died and over 300,000 have fled their homes since the uprising began in April, according to the UN.
