Author:
Mariia Kucova
As of September 2024, authorities have identified 19,546 Ukrainian children deported to Russia, with only 388 successfully returned. The most severely affected are vulnerable minors, particularly orphans and children deprived of parental care.
These results come from the research “(Non)return of children: Ukraine in the face of the greatest challenge since the Independence”, presented on September 13 at the Media Center Ukraine. The document is a collaborative effort by three Ukrainian NGOs: “Ukrainian Child Rights Network”, “Regional Center for Human Rights”, and “Voices of Children” Charitable Foundation.
Human rights activists were able to reconstruct the stories of 49 deported or forcibly displaced children.
The unrealized deinstitutionalization reform (the abandonment of orphanages – ed.), in particular, led to the deportation of children. There are still children at great risk of being deported,
explained Daria Kasyanova, chairwoman of the board of the “Ukrainian Child Rights Network”.
explained Daria Kasyanova, chairwoman of the board of the “Ukrainian Child Rights Network”.
If Ukraine had abandoned orphanages in favor of family-based care, the situation would have been different. However, the reform was never completed. As a result, several institutions found themselves under Russian occupation, and the children there were deported.
How Russia changes the identity of abducted children
The deportation of minors is classified as an act of genocide under the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Beyond the act of forced displacement, Ukrainian children face numerous assimilation tactics. They are prohibited from speaking their native language and studying Ukrainian curricula, their names are changed, and they are forced into participating in “military-patriotic” activities.
In temporarily occupied Ukrainian cities and within Russia, there are over 5,500 military-patriotic education clubs and 98 “re-education camps”:
- 67 — in the Russian Federation;
- 13 — in the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula, Zaporizhzhia, and Luhansk regions;
- 18 — in Belarus.
Russia is turning Ukrainian children into enemies of their own nation. This demonstrates the need for a unique approach when addressing the best interests of evacuated and deported children, especially in regard to their return to Ukraine,
emphasized Kateryna Rashevska, a human rights advocate and lawyer at the “Regional Center for Human Rights”.
emphasized Kateryna Rashevska, a human rights advocate and lawyer at the “Regional Center for Human Rights”.
The complexity of returning deported children
Currently, there is no unified legal mechanism for the return of deported children to Ukraine, and Russia is attempting to further prolong this difficult process. For instance, the return of one girl to Ukraine under her grandmother's care took 14 months due to interrogations, threats, and fabricated criminal proceedings.
To prevent the aggressor country from having opportunities for manipulation, the authors of the research proposed adopting a UN General Assembly resolution obligating Russia to return Ukrainian children to Ukraine. They also suggested concluding a series of international agreements between Ukraine and intermediary countries, as well as between intermediary countries and Russia.
Returning deported children to Ukraine: what is next
The work with deported children does not end upon their return to Ukraine — a long and complex process of rehabilitation and reintegration follows. For orphans and children deprived of parental care, there is often no home to return to.
The primary basic needs of returned children include accommodation, support from a social worker and a case manager, legal assistance, and community engagement. This is a set of basic services after being torn from their roots,
stated Olena Rozvadovska, co-founder of the Charitable Foundation “Voices of Children”.
stated Olena Rozvadovska, co-founder of the Charitable Foundation “Voices of Children”.
The Foundation's team developed a Concept for working with children who have been deported or forcibly displaced to Russia. The paramount principle of this document is the best interests of the child.
After meeting the basic needs of children returned from deportation, specialized needs, such as psychological support, may arise. The “Voices of Children” Foundation has been working in this field since June 2023: psychologists accompany minors during interviews with law enforcement agencies and continue to provide support in the Foundation’s regional Centers.
In addition, our professionals train law enforcement officers on how to interact sensitively with children affected by war, specifically those who have been deported.
It is crucial to highlight this issue (the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia) so that other countries help return these children. However, we must do so carefully to avoid re-traumatizing these vulnerable children,
stated Nataliia Sosnovenko, head of the Center for Psychological Expertise and Methodology at the “Voices of Children” Foundation.
stated Nataliia Sosnovenko, head of the Center for Psychological Expertise and Methodology at the “Voices of Children” Foundation.
To prevent retraumatization, the Office of the Ombudsman, in collaboration with NGOs: “Voices of Children” Foundation, “Regional Center for Human Rights”, “Ukrainian Child Rights Network”, and a wide range of experts, has developed Ethical Guidelines for interaction with children affected by armed conflict and war.
As a part of the project “Strengthening the System of Providing Psychosocial Services to Illegally Deported Ukrainian Children and Their Families”, supported by the “Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine”, which is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United States, Finland, Switzerland, and Sweden. The content of the training is the sole responsibility of the “Voices of Children” CF and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Fund and/or its financial partners.
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