CHALLENGE
Thousands of children affected by the war in Ukraine have been separated from their families, communities, and country and forcibly transferred to Russian-occupied territories or deported to Russia. Some have been placed in Russian foster and adoptive families and given Russian nationality. Other reports indicate that children from Ukraine are being transferred to “camps” and other facilities in Russia and Russia-occupied territories, where Russian officials have said they are “integrated” and receive “patriotic education”. While public discussions are usually focused on documenting the crime of deportation, increasing awareness and discussing the accountability measures, we at Where Are Our People? were looking to fill the gap and concentrate on finding a solution to return deported Ukrainian children, and use yet another opportunity to bring the issue of forcible deportations to international attention, highlighting its continuous and political nature, lack of national and global effort to find a solution, and absence of a legal mechanism of repatriation and reunification of the families.
RESOLUTION
We co-hosted the webinar “The Forcible Transfer and Deportation of Ukrainian Children by Russia: Search for Solutions” in partnership with Georgetown University’s Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues, Razom for Ukraine and US-Ukraine Foundation. Due to the productive cooperation we were able to leverage the network of each organizer and bring together the best experts including the office of the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children's Rights and Rehabilitation, the U.S. State Department’s Office for Global Criminal Justice, the executive director of the U.S. Helsinki Commission, legal experts and attorneys specializing in international criminal law, advocates, and representatives of Save Ukraine and Helping to Leave — organizations helping to bring the deportees back to Ukraine.
During the webinar, participants examined the current situation, provided historical context of deportations, and discussed the international response to this crime. Ukrainian organizations engaged in the frontline response shared their perspectives, and participants considered how the international community can support family tracing and reunification. The webinar provided the platform to learn about the possibilities to resolve the issue of deported children and the challenges every stakeholder faces.
RESULTS
- We have broadened our network by a number of decision makers’ contacts, including those in the U.S. Administration;
- In collaboration with the Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues we drafted, a concept of Coordination conference that was developed and presented to Ukraine’s government officials;
- Our historian scholar Vladyslav Havrylov was offered a position of a research fellow with the Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues at Georgetown University, where he will continue researching the issue of child deportation;
- Beth van Schaack, US Ambassador-At-Large for Global Criminal Justice, commended the organizing team with an excellent event. She was the main speaker at the US Helsinki Commission hearings on Rescuing Ukrainian Children and Women from Russia's Aggression (Washington D.C., 26 July 2023). At the hearings, she alluded to the data and information provided by the webinar panelists;
- Our webinar was featured on The Children’s Policy and Funding Initiative whose list reaches most of the international child/youth advocacy/policy community in the US;
- WAOP? provided a list of people involved in child deportation to the U.S. authorities;
- We were approached by the reporter from the Foreign Policy magazine to help with the material on deportation of Ukrainian children;
- The webinar provided a spotlight for Ukrainian organizations involved in returning deported children.