The UN warned that families continue to search desperately for loved ones taken during the full\u2011scale invasion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Presenting its latest report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, the independent investigative panel said it had verified the deportation or forced transfer of 1 205 children from Russian\u2011occupied parts of Ukraine to locations inside Russia or other occupied areas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on new evidence, the Commission has now concluded that the Russian authorities committed two types of crimes against humanity: deportation and forcible transfer of children, as well as their enforced disappearance,\u201d said Commission Chairperson Erik M\u00f8se.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Commissioner Pablo de Greiff said Russian officials had repeatedly claimed the relocations were humanitarian evacuations carried out for the children\u2019s safety. \u201cBut four years later, 80%of the children from the documented cases have not been returned,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He stressed that international humanitarian law permits evacuations only on a temporary basis and only for urgent medical or safety reasons. The Commission\u2019s findings show that many parents and guardians still do not know the fate or whereabouts of their children.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rather than establishing mechanisms to facilitate reunification, Russian authorities arranged long\u2011term placements \u201cwith families or institutions in 21 regions of the Russian Federation and in occupied areas of Ukraine\u201d, de Greiff said. He described the practice as part of a \u201ccarefully organised plan\u201d executed under the leadership of the Russian state.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes relating to the \u201cillegal transfer\u201d and deportation of Ukrainian children. A second warrant was issued for Maria Lvova\u2011Belova, Russia\u2019s Commissioner for Children\u2019s Rights.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When asked about engagement with Moscow, de Greiff said the Commission had submitted 39 written requests for information regarding the removal of children and other violations. \u201cWe have never received a reply,\u201d he said. The Commission\u2019s work continues, despite restricted access to Russian\u2011held territory and the lack of cooperation from Russian authorities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–UN\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":28708,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-28707","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Scores of Ukrainian children remain missing after being deported across Russia and Russian\u2011occupied territories, the United Nations (UN)\u2011mandated Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said on Thursday.","published_date":"","news_description":"Scores of Ukrainian children remain missing after being deported across Russia and Russian\u2011occupied territories, the United Nations (UN)\u2011mandated Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine said on Thursday.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28709,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/28707\/revisions\/28709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=28707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}