As part of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy's Bring Kids Back UA action plan, Brussels hosted an expert discussion of the task force's developments, a presentation of the documentary book Living the War – Children During the Russian War Against Ukraine, and the opening of a photo exhibition. All events were dedicated to the topic of deported Ukrainian children and were organized with the support of the European Policy Center.
Baroness Helena Kennedy, Co-Chair of the International Task Force Bring Kids Back UA, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin and Senior Advisor to the Head of the Presidential Office Dariia Zarivna presented the preliminary findings of the document of the International Task Force "Protection of Children from Forced Displacement and Deportation under International Law". Representatives of the EU and Canada also took part in the discussion.
Dariia Zarivna emphasized the importance of coordinating the efforts of the international community to solve the problem of deported children.
"We need a coordinated global information campaign to put pressure on Russia to return the children abducted by the Russians to Ukraine, in particular from the Kherson children's home and Oleshky orphanage. We have to act decisively and together, as time is not in our favor," she said.
The event brought the international community closer to defining methods for returning children and exerting pressure on Russia. The participants supported a possible mechanism for the return of abducted minors, which also includes providing each returned child with rehabilitation and reintegration services and placement in family-based care.
A book and a photo exhibition illustrating the experience of young Ukrainians during the war were also presented in Brussels.
Bringing our children home is one of the issues that will be discussed during the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland on June 15-16. The release of all prisoners and deportees is among the key topics.