Deportations and forcible transfers of Ukrainian children and other civilians to Russian Federation or to Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied: create conditions for their safe return, stop these crimes and punish the perpetrators
Reply to Recommendation
| Doc. 15854
| 30 October 2023
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- Adopted at the 1478th meeting
of the Ministers’ Deputies (18 October 2023). 2023 - November Standing Committee (Vaduz)
- Reply to Recommendation
- : Recommendation 2253
(2023)
1. The Committee of Ministers has carefully
examined Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 2253 (2023) on “Deportations
and forcible transfers of Ukrainian children and other civilians
to Russian Federation or to Ukrainian territories temporarily occupied:
create conditions for their safe return, stop these crimes and punish
the perpetrators”, which has been forwarded to the Steering Committee
for the Rights of the Child (CDENF) and the Special Representative
of the Secretary General (SRSG) on Migration and Refugees for information
and possible comments. It welcomes the support of the Parliamentary
Assembly for the role of the Council of Europe in ensuring the protection
of Ukrainian children and other civilians in the context of the armed
aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Several positive
developments have taken place since the adoption by the Assembly
of the recommendation under consideration.
2. Regarding Ukrainian children who have been unlawfully transferred
and deported to the Russian Federation or to the areas temporarily
controlled or occupied by it, the Committee of Ministers would underline that,
following its 38th meeting on 2 June
2023, the Lanzarote Committee addressed urgent questions to the Russian
Federation. On 26 September 2023, at its 39th meeting,
the Lanzarote Committee adopted a statement urging the Russian Federation
to reply to the questions asked and co-operate fully with the Committee
in conformity with its obligations under the Convention. The Committee
of Ministers would also signal that one of the sessions addressed
at the Informal Conference of the Ministers of Justice Ministers,
held in Riga on 11 September 2023 under the aegis of the Latvian
Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, concerned “Reuniting Families
and Restoring Hope: Supporting Ukrainian Children Illegally Deported
to Russia and Belarus”. The Assembly is invited to examine the Final
Declaration adopted on the occasion of this Conference.
3. Since the start of the aggression of the Russian Federation
against Ukraine, over 3.8 million children are estimated to have
been forced to flee Ukraine, the vast majority of them being hosted
in Council of Europe member States.
Note The
Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe member States
reaffirmed, at the Reykjavik Summit in May 2023, that all children
of Ukraine are entitled to enjoy the full range of human rights
enshrined in international law, and that the best interests of the
child shall be the primary consideration in all decision-making
concerning them. They underlined the need to intensify efforts to
guarantee the effective protection of the rights of children of
Ukraine in the current context and invited the Council of Europe
to facilitate multilateral co-operation in relation to Ukrainian
children residing abroad, as well as to advise on the reform of the
country’s child protection and care system.
4. As a result of the foregoing, the Council of Europe has set
up a Consultation Group on the Children of Ukraine (CGU) to serve
as a multilateral platform to exchange information and to foster
discussions about policies affecting Ukrainian children residing
in other Council of Europe member States. The CGU’s main objective
is to facilitate co-operation between member States in a pragmatic
and concrete manner, in order to help ensure that decisions concerning
the children of Ukraine living abroad are based on up-to-date information and
applicable standards and are guided by the best interests of the
child.
5. The CGU involves government experts of member States responsible
for decision-making and co-ordination of issues related to children
of Ukraine,
Note relevant
international organisations, the European Union, and other actors
in this field. The work of the CGU will contribute to better co-ordination
of actions taken to protect the rights of children of Ukraine. The
first meeting of the CGU will take place on 30 November and 1 December
2023.
6. The Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF)
will continue to support the setting up of and work of the CGU,
and, under its mandate, to facilitate regular exchanges of knowledge,
good practices and experiences among member States in this and other
areas covered by the Council of Europe Strategy for the Rights of
the Child, as well as to ensure co-operation and synergies with
relevant UN bodies, notably the UN Committee on the Rights of the
Child, as well as with the European Union and other relevant international organisations
and civil society.
7. In response to paragraph 4 of the recommendation, the Committee
of Ministers would underline the importance of the work of the Council
of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, including her country visit
to Ukraine carried out in February-March 2023 and the post-visit
statement which
called for urgent action to reunite Ukrainian children transferred
to the Russian Federation and to territories of Ukraine under Russian occupation
with their families. Stressing the importance of ensuring justice
for all victims of violations of the rights of the child in the
context of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against
Ukraine, the Commissioner called for a mechanism for reuniting the
transferred Ukrainian children with their families and legal guardians
to be established urgently, and encouraged member States to continue
to support Ukrainian and Russian human rights defenders and civil
society organisations who are involved in facilitating the children’s
return. The Commissioner also issued recommendations for protecting
and supporting children impacted by the war in Ukraine in her July
2022
memorandum and
in a
statement published
on 2022 World Children’s Day.
8. In paragraph 5, the Assembly has specifically called upon
the Committee of Ministers to “ensure effective protection of migrants
and refugees in a vulnerable situation, especially women and children
fleeing Ukraine, through the work of the Secretary General’s Special
Representative on Migration and Refugees, in the framework of the
Council
of Europe Action Plan on Protecting Vulnerable Persons in the Context
of Migration and Asylum in Europe (2021-2025)”. The Action
Plan proposes targeted measures and activities to enhance the capacity
of member States to identify and address vulnerabilities throughout
asylum and migration procedures. It was built upon the lessons and
experiences learned from the previous Action Plan, dedicated to children
and completed in 2019. The current Action Plan (2021-2025) was adapted
promptly to the situation following the aggression against Ukraine
by the Russian Federation. The first Interim Report on the Action Plan,
published on 1 March 2023, clearly demonstrates several concrete
activities, which targeted mostly women and children, and were organised
to respond to the challenges experienced by host countries.
9. Most of the recent activities of the SRSG focused on women
and children from Ukraine. This special category of vulnerable persons
was at the centre of considerations during the SRSG’s fact-finding
missions to the Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Poland, Republic
of Moldova, Romania, and Hungary, as well as in the subsequent reports
and follow-up actions. The SRSG continues to support the adoption
of specific measures that target the protection and well-being of
the children of Ukraine in the context of the Action Plan and promotes
follow-up activities to ensure the effective implementation of the
recommendations included in her reports, as mentioned by the Heads
of State and Government of the Council of Europe member States at
the Reykjavík Summit in May 2023.
10. The SRSG gives special attention to the situation of children
from Ukraine, hosted in the Council of Europe member States and
promotes exchanges of views and updates on these children between
member States through the Network of Focal Points on Migration.
A special session dedicated to an exchange of information and to
sharing experiences about the children fleeing Ukraine took place
during the last meeting which took place on 1and 2 June 2023. On
that occasion, the Focal Points shared available figures and indicated
the biggest challenges their countries are faced with concerning
these children.
11. Finally, the SRSG will co-operate closely with other relevant
Council of Europe entities to support the work of the new Consultation
Group on the Children of Ukraine (CGU).
