Let's bring back the Ukrainian children deported to Russia and Belarus
Institutional resolutions supporting the cause
of the Ukrainian children deported to Russia
The European Parliament, the French National Assembly, the French Senate, the European Council have taken up the cause of the Ukrainian children forcibly displaced by the Russian Federation, which is one of the most explosive in the war, but also one of the least mentioned.
We have engaged with French and European political leaders, in order to reinforce the urgency of the children's cause in legislative texts, notably the European Parliament resolution from September 2022, the National Assembly resolution in November 2022, the Senate resolution in February 2023, or the motion for a European resolution.
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The Council of Europe and European governments must demand from the Russian Federation the return of all Ukrainian children deported since 2014.
European Parliament resolution of 15 September 2022 on human rights violations in the context of the forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians to and the forced adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia - Extracts
C. whereas the large-scale forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians to the Russian Federation has been identified by international organisations such as the OSCE and the UN as one of the most serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Russian Federation in its war of aggression against Ukraine;
I. whereas the Ukrainian Ombudsman, on 3 September 2022, claimed that more than 200 000 children had already been forcibly taken to the Russian Federation with the intention of making them available for adoption by Russian families and could verify the circumstances of the forced deportation of 7 000 Ukrainian children; whereas the Russian authorities are deliberately separating Ukrainian children from their parents and abducting others from orphanages, other children’s institutions and hospitals before putting them up for adoption inside Russia; whereas this action by the Russian Federation is systematic and large-scale in nature, and includes the eradication of the deportees’ personal records, among other offences;
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European Council meeting (23 March 2023) – Conclusions - Extract
Russia must immediately ensure the safe return of Ukrainians forcibly transferred or deported to Russia, in particular
children. In this context, the European Council takes note of the arrest warrants recently issued by the International Criminal Court, against Russia’s President and his Commissioner for Children’s Rights, for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to Russia.
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe - Resolution 2495 (2023) - Deportations and forcible transfers of Ukrainian children and other civilians to the Russian Federation or to temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories: create conditions for their safe return, stop these crimes and punish the perpetrators
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The Assembly calls upon the Russian Federation to:
17.1 as concerns the particularly urgent situation of Ukrainian children in the hands of the Russian Federation, cease immediately and unconditionally unlawful forcible transfer and deportation of Ukrainian children to the Russian Federation, Belarus or within temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories; halt any adoption procedures underway; stop the imposition of Russian citizenship; re-establish the children’s links with their parents or carers and repatriate them to their homeland or release them to a safe third country;
17.2 provide representatives and staff of relevant United Nations bodies and other international human rights and humanitarian mechanisms and organisations, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, with unhindered, immediate and safe access; provide reliable and comprehensive information about the number and the whereabouts of Ukrainian children; and ensure their dignified treatment and their safe return;
17.3 fully co-operate with the Committee on the Rights of the Child of the United Nations in the establishment of facts on the basis of the report submitted to the latter by Human Rights Watch in November 2022 on the review of Russia’s compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
17.4 halt all practices linked to the process of “filtration”, unlawful deportation and forcible transfer of civilians and other protected persons from Ukrainian territories and release all those that are still in “filtration” points; ensure that evacuation of civilians from danger zones is on the basis of their full knowledge and consent and with the option of relocating within Ukraine or to safe destinations of their choice.
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