Scandal with Ukrainian children in Vietnam: Ukraine's ambassador says options for returning children to their homeland are being considered
Kyiv • UNN
Ukraine's ambassador to Vietnam said that options are being considered for the return of Ukrainian orphans from Vietnam to Ukraine after a scandal involving abuse at the school where they studied.
After a high-profile scandal involving the beating of Ukrainian orphans and their guardian in Vietnam, the school where the children were staying ended the program. Now they are waiting for a decision from the Ukrainian guardianship authorities to bring the children back to Ukraine.
This was stated by Ambassador of Ukraine to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Olexander Haman in a commentary to UNN.
Details
Recently, Ukrainian woman Olga Podusova reported that she and the children she is taking care of were abused by the staff of a Vietnamese school that accepted the children for study during the war in Ukraine. Later, Olha stated that she and the children were not allowed to leave the school, and the ambassador threatened to take the children away.
[UNN investigated the situation, all the details can be found here.
According to the Ukrainian ambassador to Vietnam, the consul met with the school administration and Ms. Podusova on April 18 and 19.
At the moment, the school has informally announced the end of the support program and has rented a hotel for Olga's family. For our part, we have written an official appeal to the Ukrainian guardianship authorities to send their employees to accompany the children to Ukraine in the near future. Therefore, this issue is now under consideration by the relevant Ukrainian authorities
He also commented on the fact that Olga and the children were not allowed to leave the school grounds:
The story that Olga was not allowed out is not true. The school has its own rules, and so there were certain moments when, according to the school regime, they could not leave. At that time, there was a program going on, and the children and Ms. Podusova had to obey those rules. Formally, no one detained the children or threatened to take the children away and send Olha somewhere else
The ambassador said that the school program has been completed and all possible options for returning the children to Ukraine are being considered.
