Expert of the Human Rights Center on the deportation of Ukrainian children to Belarus: they are quiet
Kyiv • UNN
Since the beginning of 2024, there have been no cases of Ukrainian children being taken to Belarus. The expert attributes this to the “elections” and the country's desire to avoid accusations of deporting children.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been no Ukrainian children taken to Belarus, or they have not been communicated with. This was reported to UNN by Kateryna Rashevska, a lawyer-expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights. She noted that the reason why the Belarusian authorities might have been quiet could be a desire to get away with accusations of re-education and deportation of Ukrainian children.
What we noticed was that since the beginning of this year, in January-February, there was no transfer of children to Belarus, or it was not communicated. There was a group (of children - ed.) who went for the New Year holidays at the end of December and they returned to the occupied territory in January, but since then no one has gone
The lawyer named several assumptions as to why Belarus has been quiet about the export of Ukrainian children.
"Firstly, the father (Lukashenko - ed.) was busy with his 'elections'. The second assumption, and it is more fundamental, is that Belarus plans to get away with accusations of re-education and deportation of Ukrainian children. It also sees itself as a kind of mediator, an intermediary, perhaps in reaching certain peace agreements or other agreements that will specifically concern children. And that's why they just went quiet," Rashevska explained.
05.06.23, 17:53 • 411573 views
However, she noted that the general director of the Russian "charitable foundation" "Believe in Yourself" Alexei Talai, who is in charge of the process of deporting children from the occupied territories to the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as their relocation for the purpose of re-education and militarization, indoctrination, has recently announced in an interview that a huge center is being completed in Belarus, where children from the occupied territories of Ukraine will come on a regular basis.
He calls it Donbas. For him, Donbas is everything, including the occupied Zaporizhzhia region and the Kherson region. This center will include children with disabilities, status children, orphans and children deprived of parental care. All this is being built with the money of the union state, that is, with the assistance of the Russian Federation. The project is supported by their Natalia Kachanova from the Belarusian side and supported by Valentina Matvienko, her counterpart from the Russian Federation. That is, this is the highest level of cooperation, the highest level of re-education
Rashevska recalled that last year a report was filed with the International Criminal Court regarding the role of Belarus in the militarized re-education of Ukrainian children and the transfer of Ukrainian children to the territory of Belarus for this purpose.
"Together with us, Lithuania, as a state, submitted a communication regarding the role of Belarus in the deportation of Ukrainian children. Today, we have not yet had any reaction in the form of an investigation into Belarusian top politicians, or, for example, we also have no arrest warrants at the ICC level, but then in September the ICC stated that it had jurisdiction to consider such issues. This is a significant step forward, it gives us some hope," Rashevskaya said.
Trafficking of Ukrainian children to Kazakhstan
"As for other countries, such as Kazakhstan, we recorded the exports in the summer. Perhaps someone will still go, because this is a regular project co-organized by Roscosmos and the First Movement. The children go there to the Baikonur Cosmodrome (in Kazakhstan - ed.), which is actually owned by the Russian Federation, so Kazakhstan as a state has been there for a while," Rashevska said.
In addition, the lawyer commented on the cases of Ukrainian children being taken by Russia to India and China.
"As for exports to India and China. They were very sporadic last year, they happened only once. Although, as for India, Russian figures there expressed some hope that in 2025 it will be on a regular basis," Rashevska said.
However, Rashevska emphasized that the Ukrainian side has a reasonable belief that India and China did not know that these were children from the occupied territories.
"It is very possible that they were issued documents in Rostov together with Rostov children, because, for example, children were taken to India specifically in a group of Rostov children, probably to hide the fact that they are from the occupied territories (of Ukraine - ed.). That is why we do not insist that arrest warrants be issued against the figures of India and China," Rashevska said.
The expert of the Regional Center for Human Rights emphasized that they are not sure that this is interstate cooperation, as in the case of Belarus through Russia.
But we need to pay attention to this, because these are not some depoliticized trips, just to see China or India, so that maybe little could be somehow justified by the best interests of the child. These are trips in which children from the so-called LPR make a presentation for children from India with many slides, telling them about the history of the LPR as part of Russia and how they were allegedly abused by Ukraine and occupied there. This is a politicized activity where Ukrainian children are turned into agents of Russian propaganda
Rashevska noted that Ukraine would like to cooperate with India and China on the return of Ukrainian children deported by Russia.
"India and China are not currently members of the international coalition for the return of Ukrainian children, unfortunately. India and China are members of BRICS, so they have some cooperation with Russia. We see India and China as a kind of mediating peacekeeping mission, and our vision of peace includes the return of Ukrainian children along with the return of civilian prisoners of war, which is the fourth point of the Peace Formula. Therefore, they may have a place," Rashevska said.
She noted that this is why Ukraine's reaction to such exports is quite balanced.
"I won't criticize here, because it's really a very small number. In China, only one child was taken out at all. In India, 10 children were taken from the occupied territory, and all of them returned. There was no sign of interstate partnership there. Everything was organized through Rossotrudnichestvo, the Russian House, Russian embassies, etc.", Rashevska said.
She emphasized that this is a deliberate operation by Russia to try to damage Ukraine's ties with other states that could potentially play an important role in the peacekeeping process.
Belarus sends Ukrainian children to train with the military - media11.01.24, 12:41 • 25974 views
The representative of the Commissioner for Children's Rights, Iryna Suslova, told a UNN journalist that Russia uses Belarus as an intermediary country for the transfer of Ukrainian children.
"Deportation is the forced movement of a person outside the territory of Ukraine across the border. (The Russian Federation - ed.) started to simply use a transit country, send them to summer camps in Belarus, and then some of them (Ukrainian children - ed.) return from Belarus, and some do not return to the occupied territories. We have an assumption that they are deported simply through the territory of Belarus, that is, it is used as an intermediary country," Suslova said.
However, she noted that this requires qualification, investigation, and verification.
"This is a matter for the Prosecutor General's Office and the SBU, because we are not investigating these crimes," Suslova said.
Addendum
In 2023, the European Parliament asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to consider issuing an arrest warrant for the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko.
Members of the European Parliament noted that Belarus is responsible for the damage caused to Ukraine and crimes committed in Ukraine, including through the regime's role in the illegal removal of children.
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets reported in July 2024 that communication with the Belarusian side was also taking place regarding Ukrainian children who had been deported to Belarus.
In 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Children's Rights Commissioner Levova-Belova for committing an international crime - the illegal deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children.
