580,000 children suffered from the war in Donbas

Currently there are about 580,000 children in Ukraine, who one way or another were affected by the armed conflict in Donbas. 22,000 children are residing close to the contact line. According to official data 68 children were killed and 186 were wounded in course of the conflict.

As reported by Lyudmyla Volynets, an expert on children’s rights, PhD in political science, during a press-briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.

According to her, all these children must get the status of victims of war or armed conflict.

All children from the near-frontline areas, from internally displaced families and of parents on military service have been affected by the conflict. Similarly affected are the children who remained in the occupied areas and are living there in a “parallel reality”.

“All the children who were pulled out of their familiar environment, who see their parents in an undue mental state and who reside in the near-front areas have been affected, as well as the children who fall asleep to the sound of attacks. All these children have names. And each one has got a huge tragedy behind”, – emphasized Lesya Lytvynova, a volunteer and a co-founder of the volunteer assistance center for internally displaced persons on Frolivska street.

According to Daria Kasyanova from the international charity organization SOS Children’s Villages, although this status does not foresee financial benefits, it gives access to healthcare services and rehabilitation.

Experts also point at the difficulty in determining the presence of psychological trauma. Since the work of psychologists in the conflict zone is coordinated in no way. There is not a single regulation on psychological trauma in Ukraine.

According to the discussants, Ukraine was not ready to prevent and adequately document the cases when minors take part in the armed conflict. Last year legislative amendments were introduced that change the status of children engaged in military groups from that of a criminal to that of a victim and witness. However, liability for the crime has not been yet defined.

“Courts are currently considering nine cases of persons under 18 years of age who were part of military groups. A total of 27 proceedings have been registered. After the amendments were introduced the children engaged in the conflict become victims and have the status of children affected by the armed conflict”, – emphasized Oleksiy Lazarenko, the vice president of the Ukrainian foundation “Zahyst prav ditey ” (Protection of children’s rights).

Actual statistical data on various categories of children is missing. Healthcare agencies and the national police started collecting the data only in 2015. No information comes from the occupied territories.

There are other related problems. Some orphans and children without parental care are hard to put on the state waiting list for accommodation as they are registered in the uncontrolled territories. Issuing of IDs also remains unclear.

“Children who remained on that side get an ‘LPR’ passport at 16. If they have accommodation registered here, we cannot register this accommodation after them as the ‘passport’ does not give grounds for that”, – said Raisa Rodina, the Head of the service on children’s affairs at the Luhansk regional military-civil administration.

Today it is quite hard to return back to Ukraine for the children taken to the Russian Federation by their parents who subsequently lost child custody there. Out of the 26 children in such circumstances it was possible to return only five.

“It is similarly hard to return back the children from the uncontrolled territories of Donetsk region. It concerns the children who are in healthcare institutions there. Our children were receiving treatment there, but our attempts to bring them back even if they have relatives here have not been successful”, – said Natalia Tymofeyeva, the Head of the service for children’s affairs at the Donetsk regional military-civil administration.

There have also been reports stating that representatives of the self-proclaimed republics are seizing premises of family-type orphanages and their vehicles in the occupied areas. Nevertheless, not a single family like that abandoned their children.

To resolve some of the issues, centers for administrative services are being set up at the control points across the contact line.

“On January 11 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the Plan for reintegration of the defined areas in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It suggests establishing centers for administrative services at the contact line. It is very problematic to get passports or IDs issued even in the government-controlled area. We are currently drafting the amendments that would allow resolving these problems right at the control point”, – noted Yuriy Grymchak, the Advisor to the Minister on the affairs of the temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons.

People are turning to non-governmental organizations more willingly than to the state agencies. Keeping away from the latter is a growing tendency.

“The state is overwhelmed with problems and is not coping well. NGOs now tend to stay away from the state, we do not count on the state as on our aide. Not only laws need to be passed, but also the mechanisms need to be found how to resolve the problem at the bottom level and what to do if the problem that arises is not regulated by the law”, – said Viktoria Fedotova, the Head of NGO MARTIN Club.