Abducted Ukrainian Children

Question

15:06:00

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support the safe return of abducted Ukrainian children forcibly removed to Russia and Belarus.

My Lords, the UK continually raises the issue in multilateral fora, alongside our allies, and is an active member of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children. We contribute to the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine, a multi-donor initiative through which we support the Government of Ukraine to facilitate the return and reintegration of children. Through PFRU, we have supported the NGO Save Ukraine and the Ukrainian Government’s Bring Kids Back initiative.

My Lords, I thank the Minister. While figures vary, Save the Children has estimated that over 20,000 Ukrainian children have been forcibly transferred to Russia or Russian occupied territories, separated from their families and subjected to systematic efforts to erase their identity, including re-education camps, forced adoptions and conscription. The sheer number and ferocity of other international conflicts has resulted in relatively little attention being given to these abhorrent violations of international law, so what urgent steps are the Government considering to ramp up their economic sanctions and travel bans on those involved—to date, they have applied sanctions to 19 individuals and three entities—and to ensure that those responsible for these war crimes are brought to justice?

I am very pleased that this Question was selected, because the noble Baroness is right to remind the House what has been happening. It is a dreadful thing for any family to find that their child has been removed from their country, and to not know where they are, how they are and how they can be returned. As she said, we have been using our sanctions regime to hold those responsible to account and to try to encourage the return of the children. As she also said, we are talking about estimated numbers, but only around 900 have been returned so far out of 20,000. We do not have a huge amount of confidence even in those numbers, which are the Ukrainian Government’s, so there is clearly a lot more that needs to be done. The noble Baroness knows that we do not comment on future sanctions designations, but we will continue to use every tool at our disposal to locate these children and to support those who are negotiating their return.

My Lords, now that there have been calls for the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war held by the Russians, those prisoners of war have hope of freedom and returning home. Not so the 1.5 million children living in Russian-occupied Ukraine. Already, thousands have been taken to Russia, deliberately re-educated, handed over to Russian families and forced to become Russians. For these children, there will be no freedom unless we help. Will the Government support the Council of Europe’s demand that any peace agreement ending this war must guarantee the return of these kidnapped children?

My noble friend does a wonderful job with the Council of Europe, and we have supported the things that he describes. We also raise this at the OSCE and in every other fora in which we are able to do so. I agree with every word that he said, and I urge him to continue to make the case that he does.

My Lords, the numbers could be even higher, as President Putin is giving Russian administrators in occupied Ukraine a quota of children to be delivered. In this terrible situation, one of the worst things is that the most vulnerable children are being targeted, particularly the children of people serving in Ukraine’s armed forces. When the time comes for a peace negotiation, will the Minister do her best to ensure that the return of these children is non- negotiable?

Absolutely. This is a crime. Children should never be pawns of war, but this is happening. Many of the children, as the noble Lord says, are the most vulnerable children; some were taken from institutions, and some at check- points. They are now in Russian institutions, some in Belarusian so-called recreation camps, some with families. It is the not knowing, I think, that adds to the pain and torture of the families. Some of these children are now becoming adults and are being required to serve in the armed forces. This is abhorrent, and we will continue to raise this. I am glad that we have the noble Lord’s support.

My Lords, we normally think of war as being about lost and gained territory, but this is a surreal nightmare for any parent that is almost impossible to imagine. Thousands of children are being taken from Ukraine and Russified. I agree with all the previous questions, so will the Minister make her best efforts to raise public awareness of this issue— I just do not think there is enough yet—and, as others have said, make it central to the negotiations? Finally, what brought the Nazis to account was their obsession with keeping detailed records. I do hope that we will extract enough information from the Russian side as soon as possible as to how many children are affected and where they are.

In the noble Lord’s question is the point about Russification, which tells us a lot about some of the motivation for the kidnapping of these children and for the war more generally. On the issue of records, it is difficult at the moment. We are working with the Government of Ukraine to try to get accurate data and information, using whatever means are necessary. I pay tribute to the Qataris for the role they have played in managing to negotiate the return of some children. We all have to do everything we can to make sure that public awareness, as he said, is raised of this issue. I think that when people find out that this is happening at this scale and in such an organised way, they will be horrified. So I agree with the noble Lord, and we should make sure that the public are made more keenly aware of this.

My Lords, it is great to see virtual unanimity across the House on these issues; I have agreed with every comment made so far. Of all the many outrageous acts committed by Russia after its invasion, this systematic campaign of forcibly abducting children from Ukraine is perhaps one of the worst. It fractures their connection to Ukrainian language and heritage through, as the noble Baroness, Lady Tyler, says, their so-called re-education, disconnecting them from their Ukrainian identities. I wonder whether the Minister could update the House on what the Government are doing to support Ukraine’s domestic investigations into deaths, and link this to the International Criminal Court investigation into what are war crimes.

We are supporting the ICC with funding and other measures and will continue to do so. It does matter that accurate records are kept and that, when the time comes, we are able to hold to account those responsible for this dreadful crime. In working with the Ukrainians, we are also looking at how children are supported after they are returned, and at their psychosocial needs. Having been abducted to another country and subjected to what is euphemistically called “re-education”—we know what that means—there is an impact on them. It is important that we think long term about what these children need.

My Lords, what is puzzling is how does Russia try to justify this awful abduction? Is there no shame? Is there no international body which can intercede on behalf of those children?

It is good see my noble friend and to hear his question. We all wish there was a lever that we could pull. At the moment, the first challenge is to locate the children. The circumstances are all quite different; some are in institutions in Russia, some have been placed with families and others are in another country altogether, and the Belarusians have been facilitating these crimes. The truth is there is no agency that can intercede and do what we would all love to do, which is to travel to Russia, pick up the children and bring them home. That has happened in some instances—some families have been able to bring home their children themselves— but this is far from standard. To have only 900 returned at this stage, when this has been going on since 2014, concerns us all hugely.