An estimated 6,000 Ukrainian children are being held in Russian “re-education” camps, according to a U.S. report released Tuesday.
During this past year, children have been relocated to Russia-occupied Crimea or into mainland Russia to be immersed in pro-Russian ideals, according to the report by the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale School of Public Health. It said that “at least 6,000 children from Ukraine ages 4 months to 17 years who have been held at camps and other facilities since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine” that began Feb. 24, 2022.
The report said children started arriving at the camps that month and “the most recent transfers occurred in January 2023. The total number of children is not known and is likely significantly higher than 6,000.”
Children from two of the Russian-occupied camps have reportedly been placed into foster care with Russian families. Some children have been sent to these camps with the consent of their parents and given a return date by Russian officials.
However, many parents’ fears became reality when their child were not returned as promised. The report says they have “identified two camps where children’s scheduled return date has been delayed by weeks. At two other camps identified, children’s returns have been indefinitely postponed.”
The United Nations assistant secretary-general for human rights, Ilze Brands Kehris, said in a press release last September that Russia’s forced displacement of Ukrainian children is a potential war crime. “Under Article 50 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Russian Federation is prohibited from changing these children’s personal status, including nationality,” she said.
This child re-education process is being conducted by every level of Russia’s federal government, the research reports. Yale HRL has “identified several dozen federal, regional and local figures directly engaged in operating and politically justifying the program.”
There is no reported number on how many children have been taken or have been able to reunite with their families.