The Deputy Speaker Olena Kondratiuk: In the case of the abduction of Ukrainian children, an entire country – the terrorist state of russia – has become a criminal group
27 June 2023, 18:45
The Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Olena Kondratiuk, together with the Marshal of the Polish Sejm Elzbieta Witek, a member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, Polish and British MPs, initiated a special conference in Warsaw.
The main issues discussed at the event were the threats posed by the risk of human trafficking to Ukrainian refugees and the need for European parliaments to strengthen their response to these risks.
The event, held in the Polish Sejm, is attended by 54 participants from 13 countries and representatives of the OSCE.
In her opening speech, the Vice Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament emphasised three key points.
“First. It is russia and its full-scale aggression against Ukraine that is the reason why millions of Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have found themselves in Europe. It is very important to realise this,” said Olena Kondratiuk.
She said that today 5 million Ukrainians are registered in Europe, and a certain number of them are here unofficially.
“We understand that it is becoming increasingly difficult for our partners to bear the financial burden of helping refugees from Ukraine.
For example, from 1 July, the Czech Republic is changing its housing compensation system. It is expected that 50 thousand Ukrainians will be deprived of such compensation. We see a tendency to reduce benefits and payments for Ukrainians in other countries as well,” the Vice Speaker noted.
Therefore, Olena Kondratiuk called on the national governments of European countries to continue to support Ukrainian IDPs at the highest possible level until the end of russia’s war against Ukraine.
“There is a great risk that in the face of financial difficulties they will increasingly fall under the influence of criminal groups. Especially those specialising in the sale of people for various purposes – from sexual slavery to the use of their organs in criminal surgery,” said the Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada.
In her speech, the Vice Speaker noted that in the field of human trafficking, we usually deal with criminal groups. In the case of Ukrainian children, she said, the whole country – the terrorist state of russia – has become such a criminal group.
She reminded the audience that, according to official information, russia has abducted and deported almost 20,000 Ukrainian children. The International Criminal Court in The Hague has recognised the actions of russian leaders as criminal and issued an arrest warrant for putin and his associates for the deportation of children.
“In the language of international humanitarian law, this is called “genocide”. But this warrant will not automatically bring the abducted children home.
That’s why we need a lot of publicity. We need more international publicity and more political pressure on russia and international organisations that are actually inactive and unable to do anything to save our children,” called Olena Kondratiuk in her speech.
She also thanked the Marshal of the Polish Sejm, Elzbieta Witek, for her leadership in organising this conference and for her initiative to bring together speakers of the parliaments of the European Union to help Ukrainian women and children in the EU.
At the same time, the Deputy Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine said that the next round of the meeting of women speakers is planned to be held in the near future, dedicated to the protection of the rights and return of Ukrainian children abducted by russia.
Foto: Aleksander Zielinski.