More than 19,000 Ukrainian children were separated from their parents during the Russian invasion and deported to Russia. The SOS Children’s Villages announced this on Thursday. “This is a war crime and part of a genocide under international law,” said Serhii Lukashov, head of the aid organization in Ukraine. Everything must be done to get the children back.
According to SOS Children’s Villages, they are involved in the repatriation. In total, 385 deported boys and girls have been returned to Ukraine so far, 84 of them by SOS Children’s Villages and its partner organisations.
During the war, children were separated from their parents in various ways. “Initially, many were cut off by the rapidly advancing frontline and suddenly found themselves alone in occupied areas. The children were often taken by the occupying forces to other regions and to Russia,’ says Lukashov.
“The Kids Never Came Back”
Later, the occupiers acted more aggressively and suggested that needy families in particular take the boys and girls to a holiday camp for a few weeks to relax. “The children never came back. Or parents were arrested at the border trying to leave the occupied territories and the children were detained.”
In Russia, the children are taken care of in homes, hospitals or foster homes and many receive a Russian passport after a short time, according to the aid organization. The children talk about re-education and brainwashing: they are told that their parents and Ukraine rejected them and that if they returned they would be persecuted. Some children are lured with big promises, others are put under pressure.”
SOS Children’s Villages help parents financially
Often it is the young people themselves who seek support, for example through social media, in other cases it is the parents or families, sometimes residents from the occupied areas have contacted SOS Children’s Villages and given tips, says Lukashov. “Only the parents themselves have the option of getting the children back. We map out the route together with them, help them financially and tell them exactly which words and arguments to use with the authorities and at the border posts.”
Even if it is possible to take the children home, the problems are often not over. “Some of them have been educated for nine months in Russian schools and have been exposed to propaganda, which has left its mark. They are confused, often behave abnormally,” reports the representative of the aid organization.
Source: Krone
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