The problem of identifying and determining the real number of Ukrainian children who were deported from the occupied territories of Ukraine

Abstract

The article explores the problem of identifying and establishing the real number of Ukrainian children who were deported from the occupied territories of Ukraine. The main problem is the inability to determine their actual number (data range from tens to hundreds of thousands). Orphans and children deprived of parental care suffered the most. The article uses data from a study by the Yale Human Rights Laboratory (Yale HRL), which found that the forced removal of children was carried out under the leadership of the Russian President and the Ombudsman and developed a special program of forced adoption and guardianship in Russia. Since it was children of vulnerable categories, including those who were in boarding schools in the occupied territories, that were forcibly removed, the program provided for their placement among Russian citizens and/or institutions with a change in their personal data in databases or information about their alleged birth in the Russian Federation. The goal is to prevent further identification of such children and their return to Ukraine at its request, in accordance with international law. It was established that such forcibly deported children were subjected to intensive propaganda and re-education, placed in camps, which is a silent violation of their rights. Among the methods were renaming children, changing citizenship, and transferring them to permanent adoption or guardianship to Russian families. In addition, Russian psychologists and medical workers were used in the process of systemic violation of the rights of Ukrainian children.