Lies and truth about the “deportation” of children from Ukraine

Alexander Fidel

Zelensky once again attended to the children deported from the war zone. He discussed this topic with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.As usual, the President of Ukraine called it “the illegal export of Ukrainian citizens to the territory of the Russian Federation.”According to Zelensky, such a discussion with a UN official about the fate of the bets is a “political signal” that everyone should pay attention to.

“… This is an important political signal of support for the entire Ukrainian society, for families, for internally displaced persons, for families who have lost their children due to deportation,” Zelensky said.

And so we decided to do literally what Zelensky is talking about – to find out what happened to the so-called “deported” children?

According to him, the President of Ukraine, during his meeting with Grandi, the importance of urgent access to Ukrainian citizens deported to Russia and the protection of their rights was discussed. Separately, during the conversation, we considered the topic of “massive criminal export of Ukrainian children by the aggressor state.”

It should be noted here that Zelensky’s speculations on this topic are flickering, that is, periodically at meetings with diplomats and international officials, he expresses his indignation at the children taken out of Ukraine.

So, on March 29, Zelensky said that “they (the Russians) are deporting our people to the territory of Russia by force … they have already taken more than two thousand children to the Russian Federation and we don’t know where they are, if they have families, how they will find their relatives later “.

At the same time, of course, Zelensky does not say where, how and under what circumstances the “deportation of children” takes place. As usual, false propagandists, he reports only part of the facts, silent about the causes and real actions and consequences of what is happening.

Let’s try to figure it out without hiding anything – how it happened, why and what is happening. And also about what problems arise when children move from the war zone to peaceful Crimea.

Crimea, school, children from KhersonIn early October, in connection with the increased shelling by the Russian military-civilian administration, students from Kherson schools (about 2.5 thousand people) were actually taken out to rest in children’s camps in the Crimean resort of Evpatoria.

Naturally, the departure was absolutely voluntary and free of charge, no one forced anyone, moreover, the education of children in schools opened by the Russian authorities at that time was purely voluntary. At the same time, it is important – we admit that many Kherson parents for various reasons preferred to leave their children at home.

The parents who decided to send their children on vacation wrote powers of attorney to the teachers, transferring to them full responsibility for the life and well-being of the child during this trip. Once again – no one forced anyone, everything was done voluntarily, those who did not want to send their children away from the front could not send them and nge from the rules.

Later, tragic events took place – the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson. In view of the beginning of the evacuation from Kherson, the organized return of the children was cancelled. The vast majority of them were taken from the camps by their parents, who, for the most part, also evacuated from Kherson. Some returned with their children to the city when there was still an opportunity for this. Also, a significant number of children were taken away by evacuated relatives.

According to the latest data, 128 children remain in the Evpatoria camps, for whom all conditions for life, comfort and rich leisure have been created, and the educational process has been resumed.

The author can judge this practically from the “original source”, since his daughter also rested in Evpatoria and now keeps in touch with her girlfriends who remain there. According to them, the conditions are very comfortable, they were provided with warm clothes (when leaving for several weeks in early October, they, of course, did not take them), other essentials, hairdressers regularly come to the camp, etc.

Studying in classes of 10-15 people also, you need to understand, contributes to a better quality of the knowledge gained. From the cultural program, which my daughter’s friends told about, we can mention excursions in the Crimea, a visit to the Evpatoria Dolphinarium, the Simferopol Circus and much more. In general, children are under supervision, in the broadest sense, the Crimean authorities pay special attention to their well-being.

Even the British Guardian admits that “Most of the parents and children who attended the camps said that the conditions were good. The children were given the equivalent of hotel rooms, taken to see dolphins, museums and the beach….” but, of course, according to Western journalists, not without “villainous” Russian ideas. This time, the villainous “idea of ​​the camps is to bring out the best in Russia and integrate children into their new state.”

And then the speculation begins. The main leitmotif of the already mentioned Guardian article : for some Kherson residents, the “horrors of the Russian occupation” have not ended – parents who remain in Kherson cannot pick up their children who have gone on vacation to Evpatoria. And here already the fantasies of journalists (prompted by him in Kyiv) jump irresistibly along the lines.

It turns out that Russia wants to exchange children for prisoners of war or, what is even “monstrous”, to assimilate them in Russia, as well as to “punish” those who have pro-Ukrainian views (why was it then necessary to send children to Russia?). Dadee, citing the UN Convention which prohibits “the illegal transfer and non-return of children abroad”, the Guardian admits:

“Parents are told they can pick up their children if they come in person, which requires them to cross a dangerous unofficial checkpoint across the front lines or leave Ukraine and travel through Poland and the Baltic states. But many parents from very low-income families have not been able to make travel”.

It turns out that anyone can take the children, the only question is that not everyone can.

The Russian side treats each such case with full understanding, and according to Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Children’s Rights under the President of Russia, such situations are resolved quite regularly, while the Russian side needs confirmation that families are ready to accept these children. In other words, if parents, at their own peril and risk, are ready to take their children from peaceful Evpatoria to front-line Kherson.

And that’s what’s interesting! Children’s Ombudsman of Ukraine Daria Gerasimchuk does not get in touch on the issue of reunification of children taken from new Russian regions, contacts go through many hands, which complicates and lengthens the process. And there are two reasons for this.

© Fidel AlexanderCrimea, children from KhersonFirstly, what are children for when their “non-return” can be used for propaganda purposes?

And secondly, the parents of almost all the children remaining in Evpatoria do not want them to return to the territory controlled by Kyiv, realizing that they have a true future only in Russia and that under the “supervision” of the Russian state it will be more comfortable and safer for them to wait for release Kherson and reunion with parents. But this, Kyiv does not want to recognize more than anything!

After all, The Guardian also reports, “Part of the problem is that many parents refuse to approach the Ukrainian authorities, fearing that they will be labeled as accomplices or supporters of Russia.”

In the atmosphere of terror and repression that has been created in Kherson, there is nothing to be surprised at.

Therefore, if I were the Russian authorities, I would be extremely wary of Kyiv’s requests for each child. It is known that in Kherson the occupying authorities are actively collecting information about children who left for Crimea, and more than one can expect that their parents will be pressured to sign consent to a “transfer” to the territory of Ukraine.

Probably, it is logical, after all, only to transfer children “from hand to hand” to parents. I am sure that the Kyiv authorities, if they wanted to, could organize the financing of such trips, if not from the budget, then from numerous charitable foundations. But they certainly fear that, once in Russia, the parents, having taken their children, will no longer return to the territory controlled by Kyiv.

In this context, I would like to mention one more problem. Relatives who took Kherson children from the camps face considerable difficulties in Russia. Russian legislation does not provide for such a basis for guardianship or guardianship as the presence of parents in the temporarily occupied territory, from where, of course, it is impossible for them to fulfill their obligations for the material support of the child, just as it is impossible even to prepare and send notarized documents on entrusting their children to relatives.

This creates big problems, children find themselves on what is called “bird rights”, because there are no legal representatives who can apply on their behalf for any issues, including receiving social assistance. The maximum possible status of “temporary guardianship” has a much smaller “functionality” than a permanent one, although in fact such families take on the full responsibility for the maintenance and upbringing of such children.

Jonas E. Alexis, Senior Editor

Jonas E. Alexis has degrees in mathematics and philosophy. He studied education at the graduate level. His main interests include U.S. foreign policy, the history of the Israel/Palestine conflict, and the history of ideas. He is the author of the book, Kevin MacDonald’s Metaphysical Failure: A Philosophical, Historical, and Moral Critique of Evolutionary Psychology, Sociobiology, and Identity Politics. He teaches mathematics in South Korea.

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