UNGA must demand immediate return of all illegally deported children – Lithuania’s UN Ambassador

The international community must remain united and persistently demand that Russia return every illegally taken Ukrainian child, Lithuanian Permanent Representative to the UN Rytis Paulauskas stressed.

He said this on Tuesday in a comment to Ukrinform following the Lithuania-organized event “Eleven Years of Russian Occupation in Ukraine: Consequences of Human Rights Violations for Civilians and Children”.

“Every child must be identified, located and safely returned,” he emphasized.

According to Paulauskas, despite Russia’s statements to the contrary, “multiple credible sources have documented Russia's unlawful deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children”.

This is documented in the UN Secretary-General’s report on children and armed conflict, in materials from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and in reports from the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab.

He noted that on Wednesday, the UN General Assembly emergency special session will consider a Ukraine-drafted resolution on the return of Ukrainian children. “It sets out concrete steps to secure the immediate return of all Ukrainian children…” Paulauskas said. These are children who were “forcibly transferred or deported to Russia, or Belarus, or to the temporary occupied territories of Ukraine under the Russian control,” he added.

The diplomat expressed confidence that the UN General Assembly must send an “equivocal message” about the obligation to return these children.

He also emphasized the importance of keeping the international community’s attention on Russia’s systemic repression of Crimean Tatars.

“Arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture and politically motivated prosecutions” in Crimea, ongoing for 11 years, are primarily directed against ethnic and religious minorities, Paulauskas said.

As Ukrinform reported, on Wednesday afternoon, December 3, the UN General Assembly will consider the resolution “Return of Ukrainian Children.”

In December, the UNGA will also hold a vote on the draft resolution “The Human Rights Situation in the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol.”

Photo: Volodymyr Ilchenko