The UN said today that the Russian authorities agreed to negotiate the return of Ukrainian minors brought to Russia to their families in Ukraine.
The UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, visited Russia for two days, where she met with political leaders and obtained their commitment on a response to the situation of children displaced by the Russian 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 today.
In this way, “Moscow agreed to address urgent measures to guarantee the rights of minors and give priority to their departure and reunification in accordance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
“Children remain the main victims of the war in Ukraine due to its devastating impact on their physical and mental well-being. Ukrainian minors are disproportionately affected by the hostilities and are subject to violations of their rights, ”he denounced.
In this sense, he called for the “urgent protection” of minors and conditions to guarantee their protection and well-being. He also defended the need to apply “a plan to avoid serious violations against children, which includes measures for the handover of minors affected by the conflict, the prevention of serious violations against minors and the correct protocols to follow for the urgent location of the displaced”. minors transferred or deported during the conflict”.
“The Russian Federation has undertaken to develop this joint prevention plan,” he stressed.
On March 17, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Commissioner for the Rights of the Child in Russia, Maria Lvova-Belova, considering that there are “reasonable grounds” for consider that the Russian leader “has individual criminal responsibility” for the transfer of Ukrainian minors to Russian territory, or for “failing to exercise adequate control over his civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts.”
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied that it is coercively deporting Ukrainian children. According to the Ukrainian government, some 16,000 children have been displaced against their will to Russian territory since the start of the conflict.
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 that it will be very high.
Source: TSF
