During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, there have been allegations of Russian deportations of children, as well as forced adoption. This would, according to international law, including the 1948 Genocide Convention, constitute genocide. UNICEF has so far not been able to independently verify the allegations.[1]
Russia maintains it is evacuating, not forcibly deporting, civilians to Russia. On 30 May, Vladimir Putin signed a decree to streamline adoption of those deemed Ukrainian orphans.[2]
Background
The first reports of forced deportations to Russia came mid-March, during the siege of Mariupol.[3]
Already on 22 March 2022, Ukraine and U.S. authorities claimed more than 2,300 children had been "kidnapped" by Russian forces from Donetsk and Luhansk.[4][5]
Overview
According to a report by Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights in Montreal and New Lines Institute in Washington, there are "reasonable grounds to conclude" that Russia is in breach of two articles of the 1948 Genocide Convention, among them the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia, in itself a genocidal act.[6]
On 30 May 2022, Vladimir Putin signed a decree that streamlined the process of giving Ukrainian orphans or those without parental care Russian citizenship.[7][2][7]
By 11 April, two-thirds of Ukraine's 7.5 million children had been displaced according to the U.N.[1] Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner, Lyudmila Denysova, and U.N. ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya, stated at that time that more than 120,000 children had been deported to Russia.[8][1] By May 26, more than 238,000 Ukrainian children were reported to have been deported to Russian territory.[7]
Ukraine raised the issue at a OSCE meeting in the beginning of June, where the head of Ukraine's mission Yevhenii Tsymbaliuk quoted a message from a Ukrainian child forcibly adopted, despite having close living relations.[9]
According to Ukrainska Pravda, Russia have taken 267 orphans from Mariupol to Rostov to be made Russian citizens, supervised by Maria Lvova-Belova. It also reported that Russian authorities had looked for and collected orphaned children, to be taken to an unknown destination.[10]
Reactions
Ukrainian authorities have claimed Putin's decree to be a way to "legalized the abduction of children from the territory of Ukraine". They have maintained this "grossly violate[s]" the 1949 Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, and the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.[7]
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine also believes that the actions may qualify as a forcible transfer of children from one human group to another.[7] In a statement: "The most serious international crimes against children committed by Russian high-ranking officials and servicemen in Ukraine will be investigated, and the perpetrators will be prosecuted. Russia will not be able to avoid the strictest accountability."[7]
UNICEF Emergency Programs Director Manuel Fontaine told CBS News that UNICEF "are looking into how we can track or help on that", though stating they do not have ability to investigate at the moment.[1]
Genocide scholar Timothy D. Snyder has stated that "[k]idnapping children en masse and seeking to assimilate them in a foreign culture is genocide according to Article 2 Section E of the 1948 genocide convention."[11]
References
- ^ a b c d Falk, Pamela (11 April 2022). "Almost two-thirds of Ukraine's 7.5 million children have been displaced in six weeks of war, U.N. says". CBS News. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ a b Dawson, Bethany (9 April 2022). "Russia to fast-track adoptions of Ukrainian children 'forcibly deported' after their parents were killed by Putin's troops, authorities say". Business Insider. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ Mark, Michelle (20 March 2022). "Thousands of residents in a besieged Ukrainian city were 'forcibly' taken to Russia, Mariupol city officials say". Business Insider. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ Sullivan, Rory (22 March 2022). "More than 2,300 children 'kidnapped' by Russian forces, says Ukraine". Independent. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ Cohen, Rebecca (22 March 2022). "US Embassy accuses Russia of kidnapping children amid reports it's deporting thousands of Ukrainians by force". Insider. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ Borger, Julian (27 May 2022). "Russia is guilty of inciting genocide in Ukraine, expert report concludes". Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f "Putin's decree "legalizes" abduction of children from Ukraine - MFA". Ukrinform. 31 May 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ Ochab, Ewelina U. (10 April 2022). "Ukrainian Children Forcibly Transferred And Subjected To Illegal Adoptions". Forbes. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ "Ukraine at OSCE talks about abduction of children by Russians". Ukrinform. 2 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ Zagorodnyi, Mykhailo (31 May 2022). "Invaders deport children from Mariupol and Volnovakha to Rostov Oblast, Russia: they want to turn them into Russian citizens". Ukrainska Pravda. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
- ^ "Timothy D. Snyder on Twitter, 1 June 2022". Retrieved 3 June 2022.