As the Commissioner said, reports indicate the death of 158 children so far from Russian attacks in Ukraine,[/B] as well as the injury of 245 more so far. "Our priority now is to register them so that we know exactly where these children are," the commissioner said, adding that member states should speed up their registration procedures."
"Last month, Russian soldiers shot eight-year-old Matvey, his four-year-old brother Klim and their mother, Margarita, as they were trying to flee the town of Busha. These war crimes cannot go unpunished and Eurojust and Europol will have an important role to play in this," Johansson said in her statement.
For some two million children who have fled Ukraine, the risk of trafficking is visible at the moment, according to the commissioner, who said there are no confirmed cases yet, while Lithuanian authorities are investigating the possible trafficking of 43 children who were up for adoption.
"Children are a priority, central among the 10 priorities I presented to the extraordinary Council last week," she added, saying that among the measures being taken is the monitoring of internet activity, in order to identify potential traffickers and those who try to exploit victims, while Europol has prepared a task force for this purpose and the Commission services are training border guards and police to identify potential victims and traffickers.
"A registration platform is already being prepared so that countries can share information on the reception of children," Johansson said, noting, however, that those offering shelter and transport should also be registered so that refugees know who they can trust.
The aim is to clarify how to track children, how to strengthen registration procedures in member states, and how to welcome and accommodate children with disabilities. The reunification of families is also an important objective.
The plenary session was also welcomed by Commission Vice-President Dombravka Suica, who pointed out that there are 100.000 children in institutions in Ukraine and more than half of them have disabilities and to this end, last March measures were drawn up by the Commission to equip Member States to provide protection for children, ensuring their access to rights and services without discrimination.
He also said thatEuropean funds are available for the temporary accommodation of children in families, for psychological support and counselling. "Unaccompanied minors, children orphaned or cut off from their families, are at high risk of exploitation and abuse," she stressed, underlining the need to ensure the necessary data to properly register all children.
An important aspect is the continuation of children's education and their return to schools, along with psychosocial support to help them cope with the traumatic experience, language and cultural barriers, she said. To this end, Ukrainian teachers arriving in the EU are also being used.
The countries neighbouring Ukraine receive a large volume of refugees, with over 2.2 million in Poland, more than 579.000 in Romania, over 379,000 in Moldova, around 343,000 in Hungary and over 545,000 in other countries such as the Czech Republic, which has issued residence permits for 259,607 people but hosts over 300,000 Ukrainian refugees. UNICEF figures indicate that over 90% of refugees are women and children.
On Thursday, a resolution will be put to the EP plenary session proposing actions and measures, including the need to share information between Member States on child protection, cooperation with the Ukrainian authorities, direct registration of children arriving in each country, collection of data on each refugee from vulnerable groups.
Financial support to Member States to care for refugees wherever they come from, says C. Georgiou
In a written comment on the debate in plenary, Cypriot MEP George Georgiou says that "with every passing second, a child in Ukraine becomes a refugee, at great risk of becoming a victim of violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking."
"As a group of the Left," says Mr. Georgiou, "we called on the European Council and the Commission to assume, in practice, their responsibilities, to give substantial support to refugee children, to take substantial initiatives to create humanitarian corridors, to transfer all patients to EU hospitals, with full coverage of costs by the EU, and those refugee children suffering from cancer and other diseases to have immediate access to quality treatments and essential medicines".
Georgiou adds that the EU must ensure their right to shelter, to education, to a quality life, instead of, as he stresses, giving priority to sending war material to Ukraine and boosting its defence spending.
He concludes that "financial support is needed for Member States to take care of refugees wherever they come from", as well as to fight racism in order to establish a "permanent, fair resettlement mechanism for a fair distribution of the burden", noting that the danger to humanity is the expansionist policies that have made both Cypriots and these children refugees.
Source: CNA
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