"Bringing Kids Back to Ukraine: Success Stories and Challenges" - Le Temps Website

2023-12-19 19:41:02

Published on December 19, 2023 at 8:41 p.m. / Modified on December 19, 2023 at 9:21 p.m.

The photo shows three children whose faces are blurred and Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, smiling in front of the national flag. “A fantastic Saturday,” rejoiced Dmytro Lubinets on December 16 on his X account (formerly Twitter). Three more children brought back to Ukraine!” The minors, a 12-year-old girl and two boys aged 12 and 15, were each reunited with their families after a long absence and a long journey. This release may seem insignificant in comparison to the 19,546 kidnapped children, whose return the Bring Kids Back UA (BKBUA) association is demanding, but for Dmytro Lubinets, the numbers say nothing, each child being unique like each of their stories. In a tweet, he thanks all those who worked for this liberation, Qatar, UNICEF and international organizations. In terms of international organization, in this case it is only the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which had an essential role but remains in the shadows, absent from the photo and the list thanks.

The three children, two of whom were deported by the Russians when they occupied the city of Kherson while the third was taken by his father to Russia without his mother’s consent, are added to the 517 little ones that the association BKBUA, created under the leadership of President Volodymyr Zelensky, was able to repatriate. “Ukraine is developing procedures for the return of abducted children,” explains Dmytro Lubinets to Temps. For this, it is extremely important that the relatives or guardians of the abducted child cooperate with the Ukrainian state authorities. Repatriating a child is a difficult and sometimes dangerous process that is almost impossible for us to organize alone.”