Open letter from non-governmental organizations on the occasion of the Ministerial Conference on the Human Dimension of Ukraine’s 10-Point Peace Formula

We, 61 Ukrainian and foreign non-governmental organizations dedicated to the protection and promotion of the rights of the child—blatantly violated due to the aggression of the Russian Federation—express our strong support for the efforts of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, particularly the initiative to draw up a roadmap with concrete measures to bring children home.

For ten years, the Russian Federation has deliberately targeted its physical and ideological attacks on Ukrainian children. During the unprovoked full-scale invasion, thousands of young Ukrainians have been killed or wounded. Kindergartens, schools, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure have been destroyed by the aggressor state, resulting in almost 3 million children finding themselves in situations of extreme vulnerability. Due to the strikes by the Russian armed forces on Ukrainian electric power plants and sub-stations, the harshest winter awaits young Ukrainians since the beginning of the full-scale war. This will increase humanitarian and migration challenges not only for Ukraine, but also for the states that have already kindly opened their borders to nearly 7 million Ukrainian citizens, mostly women and children.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been deported or forcibly transferred. More than 90% of them continue to live far from home in foreign Russian families or boarding schools. The unlawful deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children led the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, and Commissioner for Children’s Rights in his Office, Maria Lvova-Belova, on March 17, 2023.

At the same time, the displacement of Ukrainian children is not an end in itself for the aggressor state. The Russian Federation seeks to eradicate their Ukrainian identity and turn them into enemies of their own nation. Today, more than 1,5 million Ukrainian children under the control of the Russian Federation—both in the occupied territories and in the subjects of the aggressor state—are at risk of deportation and are subject to political indoctrination and militarization. These actions have long-term negative consequences for the physical and mental health of the children, pose a threat to the existence of Ukraine, and challenge international peace and security. Russia attacks entire families to prevent the transmission of cultural values and identity from one generation to the next. Due to the aggression of the Russian Federation, thousands of Ukrainian children have been left without parental care or have become orphans.

This year, the international community celebrates the 35th anniversary of the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The situation of Ukrainian children under the control of the Russian Federation does not align with the principle of the best interests of the child and is accompanied by numerous violations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, namely: the right to preserve identity, including citizenship; the right to education; freedom from inhumane treatment and discrimination; freedom of expression; the right to family and family reunification; and the right to use one’s own culture. Considering the scale and systematic nature of these unlawful actions, there are reasonable grounds to believe in the commission of a crime against humanity against Ukrainian children through their discriminatory persecution.

In February 2024, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called on the Russian Federation to end the deportation of children from Ukraine and to provide information on the number of deported children and their whereabouts for identification and timely return. Russia continues to ignore these recommendations.

Taking into account the vulnerability of children affected by the Russian aggression and the scale of unlawful acts related to their re-education, deportation, forcible transfer, and unjustifiable delay in repatriation, we emphasize the need to include the following specific measures in the roadmap and other documents resulting from the Ministerial Conference:

1. Put forward clear demands to the Russian Federation regarding the return of Ukrainian children and outline the tools for ensuring Russia’s fulfillment of its relevant international obligations, including the strengthening of sanctions policy and the suspension of its membership or certain benefits from such membership in international organizations.
2. Create a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the process of returning Ukrainian children from the control of the Russian Federation, and based on this evaluation, regularly review approaches to their return and respond to obstacles posed by the Russian Federation.
3. Implement an individual approach and ensure an adequate distribution of resources—financial, technical, human, and informational—clearly define the categories of children who need to be returned from the control of the Russian Federation, including terms such as ‘deported child,’ ‘forcibly transferred child,’ and ‘child at risk of deportation.’
4. Create and ensure the functioning of a system for recording and monitoring the situation of Ukrainian children returned from the control of the Russian Federation, including the necessary information for their rehabilitation and reintegration (in particular, age, gender, status, place of origin, place of residence, etc.), and based on the categories formulated in accordance with Recommendation 3, update information in the existing Register of deported and forcibly transferred children.
5. Facilitate the effective search, identification, return, rehabilitation, and reintegration of Ukrainian children, ensure coordination among international governmental organizations, international non-governmental organizations, and the competent authorities of Ukraine.
6. Ensure the transparency and efficiency of the return of Ukrainian children, define and consolidate the role of the intermediary state through a separate memorandum or agreement that outlines its powers and procedures for interaction.
7. Expand the number of member states of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, particularly by involving countries from South America, Africa, and Asia. Additionally, strengthen the information and communication campaign in these regions to effectively counter Russian propaganda narratives and raise awareness of the situation of Ukrainian children under the control of the Russian Federation.
8. By creating platforms for dialogue, organizing consultations, and directly engaging in discussions, ensure the active participation of affected children in decision-making processes related to their rights and interests.
9. Continue efforts and expand the list of mechanisms for the legal protection of affected children in both judicial and quasi-judicial institutions at various levels. In particular, promote the implementation of existing decisions of the International Criminal Court, support the activities of the Joint Investigative Team, ensure compliance with the recommendations of UN system bodies, and facilitate the compensation for children by filing applications to the Register of Damage for Ukraine.
10. By consolidating the efforts of foreign states and competent international governmental and non-governmental organizations, provide Ukraine with all necessary assistance—including organizational, informational, legal, logistical, and financial support—for the implementation of important internal reforms, including but not limited to:

• 10.1 deinstitutionalization reforms,
• 10.2 the determination of a competent body or task-force responsible for the return, rehabilitation, and reintegration of children,
• 10.3 the creation of a regulatory framework and procedures for assessing the best interests of the child, including in the context of their return from the control of the Russian Federation,
• 10.4 the development of a new plan and policy for implementing the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,
• 10.5 the amelioration of methodologies for collecting, analyzing, and preserving data on the situation of Ukrainian children under the control of the Russian Federation,
• 10.6 the improvement of access of children from the occupied territories to Ukrainian education as a crucial part to save connections with the population of occupied territories, counteract indoctrination and eradication of their identity.

Mutual strengthening, effective and high-quality advocacy activities, consolidation of the human rights movement, and the formation of a unified value framework regarding the return of Ukrainian children and the prosecution of those responsible will contribute to the implementation of the aforementioned decisions at both the national and international levels, ensuring the restoration of the international legal order, stable peace, security, and justice.