Herasymchuk appeals to reps of Germany, Netherlands to assist in search for Ukrainian children deported to Russia

KYIV. Jan 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) –Presidential Adviser on Children’s Rights and Child Rehabilitation Daria Herasymchuk held a number of international working meetings to protect the rights of Ukrainian children violated by the aggressor state due to illegal deportation, the presidential press service said.

In particular, Herasymchuk met with the Commissioner of the German Government at the Foreign Ministry for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid Louise Amstberg, representatives of the German and Dutch embassies in Ukraine.

During the meeting, she expressed regret over the ineffectiveness of cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on the issue of rescuing children illegally taken out of Ukraine.

According to Herasymchuk, the ICRC does not want to accept information from the Ukrainian state authorities, citing the fact that they can receive such data in the format of relevant applications only from parents and close relatives. At the same time, in most cases this is not possible, since often parents and children are forcibly separated during deportation. In addition, there are cases when relatives go missing or are killed. In such a situation, Herasymchuk said, it is the state that must ensure the rights of children.

In this regard, she asked for assistance in finding possible ways and solutions to organize and implement measures to establish the places of stay of Ukrainian children illegally deported from the territory of Ukraine to Russia.

In particular, according to her, the involvement of third countries could help in this, especially given the fact that with the start of a full-scale invasion, Ukraine severed diplomatic relations with Russia.

"Only by joint efforts, using various channels and opportunities, we will be able to save Ukrainian children from the occupiers," the presidential adviser said.

As reported, Herasymchuk also suggested that the representatives of Germany and the Netherlands support the UN General Assembly’s call to Russia to stop the deportation of Ukrainian children and cancel the decision to simplify the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship for Ukrainian orphans or children left without parental care, as well as take all necessary measures to their safe return.

She also urged to recognize the actions of Russia as genocide of the Ukrainian people and disseminate this information among the EU partner countries.

In addition, the presidential plenipotentiary noted the inadmissibility of the actions of the Russian presidential commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, who illegally adopted a Ukrainian boy from Donbas and publicly acknowledged this fact.