The UN said on Sunday that Russian authorities agreed to negotiate the return of Ukrainian minors, who were taken to Russia, to their families in Ukraine.
The UN Special Representative for Minors and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, visited Russia for two days, where she met with political leaders and received their commitment on how to respond to the situation of minors displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Other situations of concern for minors related to the armed conflict were addressed, including the issue of the repatriation of minors in conflict situations to ensure the best interests of the minor,” Gamba said in a statement released this Sunday.
In this way, “Moscow agreed to take urgent measures to ensure the rights of minors and to prioritize their departure and reunification in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child”.
“Minors remain the main victims of the war in Ukraine due to the devastating impact on their physical and mental well-being. Ukrainian minors are disproportionately affected by hostilities and are targets of violations of their rights,” denounced.
In this sense, it called for “urgent protection” of minors and conditions to ensure their protection and well-being. He also defended the need to “implement a plan to prevent serious violations against children, including measures for the surrender of minors affected by the conflict, the prevention of serious violations against minors and the proper protocols to be followed for the urgent location of displaced persons, transferred minors or deported during the conflict”.
“The Russian Federation has agreed to develop this joint prevention plan,” he stressed.
On March 17 the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Commissioner for the Rights of the Child in Russia Maria Lvova-Belova, when it is considered that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that the Russian leader “bears individual criminal responsibility” for the transfer of Ukrainian minors to Russian territory, or for “failing to exercise sufficient control over his civilian and military subordinates who committed the deeds”.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that it forcibly deports Ukrainian children. According to the Ukrainian government, about 16,000 children have been expelled against their will to Russian territory since the start of the conflict, while a study published in February by Yale University spoke of 6,000 Ukrainian children spread across 40 Russian boarding schools.
Russia’s war against Ukraine plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
The number of civilian and military casualties in the conflict is unknown, but several sources, including the United Nations, have admitted it will be very high.
Source: DN
