MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on human rights violations in the context of forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians to and forced adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia

13.9.2022 - (2022/2825(RSP))

with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure

Pedro Marques, Andrea Cozzolino, Evin Incir, Raphaël Glucksmann, Radka Maxová, Juozas Olekas
on behalf of the S&D Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0388/2022

B9‑0390/2022

European Parliament resolution on human rights violations in the context of forced deportation of Ukrainian civilians to and forced adoption of Ukrainian children in Russia

(2022/2825(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukraine, in particular of 19 May 2022 on the fight against impunity for war crimes in Ukraine, and of 7 April 2022 on the EU’s protection of children and young people fleeing the war in Ukraine,

 

– having regard to the declaration of the High Representative on behalf of the EU on Russian atrocities committed in Bucha and other Ukrainian towns of 4 April 2022,

 

– having regard to the European Council conclusions on Ukraine of 30 May 2022,

 

– having regard to the OSCE report on violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine (1 April - 25 June 2022) of 11 July 2022,

 

– having regard to the reports by the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights,

 

– having regard to the Geneva Conventions,

 

– having regard to the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child of 20 November 1989 and the additional protocols thereto,

– having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure.

 

 

 

1. whereas there is an increasing number of credible reports about forced displacement and deportation of Ukrainian citizens to the Russian Federation, including forced passage through so-called “filtration camps” run by Russian forces or their affiliates, as well as about forced deportation to and adoption of Ukrainian children in the Russian Federation;
2. whereas the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) estimates that since 24 February 2022 more than 1 million Ukrainians have been deported to the Russian Federation, often to remote regions, thereby allowing to draw alarming parallels with the Soviet deportations to Siberia starting from 1941;
3. whereas large-scale deportation of Ukrainian civilians to the Russian Federation has been identified by international organisations such as the OSCE or the UN as one of the most serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by the Russian Federation in its war of aggression against Ukraine;
4. whereas the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations (OHCHR) verified the existence of so-called “filtration camps”, a practice that has resulted in numerous human rights violations against Ukrainian citizens;
5. whereas children fleeing the war, especially when unaccompanied, are at increased risk of violence, abuse and exploitation as well as of going missing and falling victim to trafficking, especially when moving across borders;
6. whereas on 8 April 2022, the Ukrainian Ombudsman for the first time alerted the international community about the reported forceful deportation and adoption of Ukrainian children, claiming that more than 120,000 children had already forcefully been taken to the Russian Federation with the intention to make them available for adoption by Russian families; whereas Russian sources reported about the so-called “evacuation” of 324,000 Ukrainian children while, until September 2022, the circumstances of forced deportation of 5,600 Ukrainian children could be verified by the Ukrainian Ombudsman;
7. whereas reports claim that Ukrainian children have been taken from orphanages, other children’s institutions and hospitals and have been deported to Russia while not all of them were without parental care or living relatives and some of them were in child care facilities for the only purpose of medical treatment;
8. whereas the President of the Russian Federation on 30 May 2022 signed a decree to simplify the procedure for granting Russian citizenship to Ukrainian children without parental care and for their adoption by Russian families;
9. whereas international law unequivocally prohibits deportation within an occupied territory or from an occupied territory to the territory of the occupying power, which constitutes a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC);
10. whereas states parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child are bound to respect the right of the child to preserve his or her identity, including nationality, name and family relations (Art. 8), to ensure that a child shall not be separated from his parents against his or her will (Art. 9) and that the best interests of the child are respected in the case of adoption, which is to be exceptional during a conflict (Art. 21);
11. whereas the UN Security Council on 7 September 2022 addressed the international concerns about forced displacement and deportation of Ukrainian citizens as well as forced adoptions of Ukrainian children in Russia;

 

1. Demands that the Russian Federation immediately inform about the names, whereabouts and wellbeing of all Ukrainians detained and allow and enable the safe return of all Ukrainian civilians, in particular those forcefully deported to the territory of the Russian Federation or to Ukrainian territories currently occupied by the Russian Federation;

2. Demands that immediate access to all so-called “filtration camps”, “evacuee centres” and other temporary retention centres in the Ukrainian territories currently occupied by or located in the Russian Federation be granted to the UN, UNHCR, OHCHR, ICRC and other relevant international organisations;

3. Urges to immediately stop the forceful adoption of Ukrainian children by Russian families, which violates the rights of these children and international humanitarian law and may constitute yet another war crime;

4. Emphasizes that children separated from their parents during war or a humanitarian emergency cannot be assumed to be orphans and must be allowed and enabled to reunify with their biological parents, other living parents or legal custodians promptly; insists that, as stated by the relevant international conventions and jurisprudence, intercountry-adoptions during a conflict must be avoided;

5. Reiterates that evacuations should always be carried out respecting special measures that take into consideration the best interests of the child, and that the consent of their parents or persons responsible for their care must be granted;

6. Urges the authorities of the Russian Federation to immediately grant international organisations such as the OHCHR and UNICEF access to all Ukrainian children deported to the Russian territory;

7. Reiterates the importance of an immediate EU Child Protection Package to protect and assist children and young people fleeing the war in Ukraine which entails safe passage, protection from violence, abuse, exploitation and trafficking as well as emergency relief, family reunion efforts and long-term rehabilitation support;

8. Calls on the Council to include in its next sanctions package all persons identified as responsible for the preparation and organisation of forced deportations and forced adoptions or for the operation of the so-called “filtration camps”;

9. Calls on the EU and its Member States to closely cooperate with and support Ukrainian authorities in their efforts to register all missing Ukrainian civilians, determine their whereabouts and repatriate in particular any missing children in order to promptly reunite them with their parents or legal custodians;

10. Reiterates its firm demand that all persons responsible for committing, assisting in or organising human rights violations, atrocities and war crimes in the context of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine must be identified as swiftly as possible and held to account in accordance with international law; encourages EU Member States to make even wider use of the principle of universal jurisdiction and to increase their support to the international efforts at investigating and prosecuting all the perpetrators of and persons responsible for organising war crimes in Ukraine and against Ukrainian citizens;

11. Calls on Ukraine to ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC to facilitate the prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including forced deportations, and on all European countries to sign or ratify the UN International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances;

12. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission/ High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the President, Government and Parliament of Ukraine and the President, Government and Parliament of the Russian Federation.</Date>