HRC 54 ITEM 9 Ukrainian children who were taken away against their will from the Ukrainian occupied territories to Russia

54th session of the Human Rights Council (11 September to 13 October 2023)

Item 9: General debate on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, follow‑up to and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action

CAP Liberté de Conscience

Christine Mirre

We, together with Human Rights Without Frontiers are deeply concerned about thousands of Ukrainian children who were taken away against their will from the Ukrainian occupied territories to Russia.

Ukraine and Ukrainian families are desperately in search of their kidnapped children.

20,000 missing children have been identified and namely registered by the Ukrainian authorities, but Russia has announced much higher figures.

20% of them are orphans and children deprived of parental care.

Russia refuses to send them back to Ukraine, keeps them for adoption and russifies them in an anti-Ukrainian mindset.

As of the first of September, less than 400 Ukrainian children could be rescued by their families.

We, together with Human Rights Without Frontiers strongly support the recommendations of the UN Secretary-General on this issue, who urges Russia:

to ensure that the Ukrainian children are not deprived of their identity, including their citizenship;
to facilitate family reunification;
and to comply with the Durban Declaration.