PACE Resolution on the situation of Ukrainian children: finding and returning them home
On 25 January 2024, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a Resolution on the situation of Ukrainian children who were forcibly displaced from the territory of Ukraine and also determined the need to create conditions for their safe return. This was reported by the National Social Service.
“As of today, the state portal of Ukraine “Children of War" has collected information on 19,546 children whose deportation or forced displacement from various places is known, and only 388 of them have returned home,” the Resolution says.
Compared to the Resolution adopted in 2023, the new document contains additional provisions for protecting Ukrainian children. In particular, the document calls on the member states of the Council of Europe to recognise the deportation of Ukrainian children by russia as genocide. It also proposes to extend sanctions for participation in the forced deportation of our children to propagandists involved in these crimes.
In addition, the Resolution of 2024 emphasises that Ukrainian children have left their country to seek temporary protection in the territories of foreign countries. Therefore, the provisions of Article 6 of the Convention of 19 October 1996 on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, Recognition, Enforcement and Co-operation in respect of Parental Responsibility and Measures for the Protection of Children cannot be applied to them. Instead, the provisions of Article 5 are applicable. It states that only Ukraine's judicial or administrative authorities have jurisdiction to take measures to protect the person or property of a child.
The Resolution supported the initiative to create an International Coalition of Countries for the Return of Ukrainian Children and welcomed the establishment of the Centre for Child Protection, which operates under the supervision of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights.
The text of the Resolution is available here.
