Bring Kids Back UA (Bring Children Back to Ukraine) released a new documentdated August 27, entitled “Protecting Children from Forced Transfers and Deportation”, which exposes serious violations committed by Russia in the deportation of Ukrainian children living in areas occupied by dictator Vladimir Putin’s forces in the neighboring country.
According to the organization, the document was presented to Ukrainian government officials, international human rights lawyers, academics and NGOs. It highlights the gravity of Russian actions carried out in the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine, from the invasion of Crimea in 2014, to the full invasion of Ukrainian territory that began in 2022.
The report details how Putin and his regime in Russia violated international law by illegally transferring Ukrainian children to their territory under the pretext that they were in need of medical care and support. According to the report, many of these children were not provided with the care they were supposed to receive and were not returned to Ukraine as they should have been. Instead, they were sent to shelters in Russia, where many remain without legal documentation.
The Bring Kids Back AU analysis of the document strongly criticizes the justifications provided by Russia for the transfer of these children, highlighting that such forced actions violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the forcible removal of civilians, and Article 8 of the Rome Statute, which classifies unlawful deportation as a war crime.
The report also mentions that these practices constitute crimes against humanity according to Article 7 of the Rome Statute, in addition to violating children’s rights as established in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRN), including the “right to identity, to family reunification and to protection against unauthorized adoptions”.
These transfers also constitute a serious violation of the principles of protection and care established by international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL).
To remedy these violations, the report recommends that Russia immediately return the abducted children, cease all measures that alter the personal status of the children, and cooperate with international institutions to ensure family reunification and the return of the children to Ukraine. In addition, Bring Kids Back AU calls on Russia to respect the temporary nature of the evacuations and cease the deportation of children into alternative care.
The organization also calls on the international community to demand that Russia and its allies fulfill their obligations under international law, ensure access to records on deported children, and cooperate with international missions to monitor the conditions of these children.
In view of the serious allegations and the evidence presented, the Bring Kids Back AU document calls for coordinated action by governments and international organizations to address these violations and ensure the protection and return of Ukrainian children affected by the war.
Andriy YermakHead of the Office of the President of Ukraine and member of the AU Bring Kids Back Task Force, said that “the document we are presenting today is at the heart of Ukraine’s efforts to engage the international community in restoring sustainable justice. The fourth item of Ukraine’s peace formula and the AU Bring Kids Back initiative has the clear goal of returning all stolen children and bringing them back home, without conditions or exceptions. This is not just a state initiative – it is our duty towards our children and future generations.”
“Today we are not just presenting a document, we are calling for action. We call on the international community to condemn this crime and do everything possible to return our Ukrainian children,” Yermack said.
“Government estimates range as high as 20,000 children who have been forcibly removed and deported, with estimates ranging even higher, to several hundred thousand,” Sharanjeet Parmar said in a speech at the launch of the report. Parmar is a member of the Bring Kids Back AU Task Force, a former law professor at Harvard Law School, and a prosecutor on child crimes at the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
“The common thread in all these cases of transfers and deportations is the lack of voluntary consent, not only on behalf of the children, but of their parents and guardians. The overwhelming majority of transfers and deportations of children have not been and cannot be justified under international humanitarian law based on the evidence to date,” she concluded.
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