Ukraine investigates involvement of Belarus in deportation of children
Ukraine is investigating the involvement of Belarus in forceful deportation of children from Russia-occupied territories.
Source: Reuters news agency, with reference to Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine
Andrii Kostin, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, reported that a criminal case was opened in Ukraine on the fact of "forcible displacement/deportation of 19,000 children" from occupied regions, among other options, to Belarus.
The children were deported from following oblasts:
- Donetsk;
- Luhansk;
- Zaporizhzhia;
- Kherson;
- Kharkiv.
"The fact and circumstances of deportation of the Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to the so-called recreation camps in the territory of Belarus are being investigated within the aforementioned criminal case," the Prosecutor General’s Office stressed.
Ukraine’s statement about the deportation of children was a response to the report of the Byelorussian opposition about the fact that 2150 minors, specifically orphans aged 6 to 15, were deported to the so-called recreation camps and resorts.
The children could have been settled to two Byelorussian recreation resorts:
- Zolotye Peski in Gomel Oblast;
- the Ostroshitskiy Gorodok health resort in Minsk Oblast.
The deportation of children to another country was illegal and violated the Geneva conventions and the International Criminal Court statute.
"Lukashenko personally ordered the transfer of orphans to Belarus and facilitated their displacement with financial and organisational support," the Prosecutor General Office adds.
Background:
The instances of illegal displacement of 164 Ukrainian children aged 4-18 to Russia was recognized by the UN Independent International Commission for the Investigation of Violations in Ukraine.
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