▲ This AFP photo shows Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha (C) speaking alongside EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas (L) and Canada's Foreign Minister Anita Anand during a press conference of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children in Brussels on May 11, 2026. (Yonhap)

Ukrainian children-forced deportation

Envoys urge int'l community to act for over 20,000 Ukrainian children deported by Russia

SEOUL, May 18 (Yonhap) -- More than 20,000 Ukrainian children have been deported or forcibly separated from their families amid the prolonged Russia-Ukraine war, envoys from the European Union (EU), Canada and Ukraine to South Korea said, calling on the international community to join hands to address "large-scale and systematic" violations of children's human rights.

Ugo Astuto, ambassador of the European Union to South Korea; Philippe Lafortune, ambassador of Canada to South Korea; and Andrii Vieshkin, charge d'affaires ad interim of Ukraine to South Korea, made the appeal in a joint op-ed published by Yonhap News Agency on Monday.

The EU, Canada and Ukraine are members of the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children, launched in February 2024, and they hosted a high-level meeting of the coalition in Brussels last week.

"Today, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has officially confirmed more than 20,000 cases of deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia or temporarily Russian-controlled territory," the envoys said.

"The unlawful deportation and forced transfer of Ukrainian children did not begin with Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. This practice began years earlier, following the illegal occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014," they wrote, stressing that the practice "has grown into a large-scale and systematic violation of the rights of Ukrainian children."

The envoys said tracing deported or transferred children remains "extremely difficult" because Russia has not provided relevant information.

"This is why international cooperation is essential. No country facing such a challenge could address it alone," they said. "Protecting children in conflict is not an abstract principle, it is a human responsibility that requires sustained international cooperation."

Currently, 49 countries and major international organizations, including the United States and Japan, participate in the coalition. South Korea has not joined the initiative.

The envoys added that a ministerial conference on the issue is scheduled to take place in Toronto in September 2026, co-hosted by Canada, Ukraine and Norway.

Some observers say the issue of the forced transfer and repatriation of Ukrainian children is linked, in some respects, to security concerns on the Korean Peninsula.

Last week, Britain announced sanctions targeting organizations and individuals allegedly involved in the forced transfer of Ukrainian children, and the list included the Songdowon International Children's Camp in North Korea's eastern coastal city of Wonsan for its suspected ties with Russia.

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