Darya Herasymchuk, Presidential Adviser on the Rights of the Child and Child Rehabilitation, also noted that the situation with family forms of upbringing in Ukraine and the European Union is different.
Due to the full-scale invasion of Russia, millions of Ukrainians, including and children were forced to leave their homes. In particular, Ukrainians are fleeing the war abroad. In an interview with ZN.UA, Daria Gerasymchuk, an adviser to the President's Commissioner for Children's Rights and Children's Rehabilitation, spoke about the difficulties that arise when evacuating children abroad. Alla Kotlyar talked to her.
The Commissioner said that with the financial support of UNICEF, the Coordination Headquarters for the Protection of Children's Rights during the war went to the countries that receive the most our children – Poland, Germany and Italy. They watched how Ukrainian children were placed, how they got there, who evacuated, what they provided. First of all, we are talking about organized groups. Staff members, including Gerasimchuk, also met with government officials.
“The biggest problem is that Ukraine's legislation on certain issues does not coincide with EU legislation. For example, in Ukraine, a child between the ages of 16 and 18 can travel freely and does not need escort. In EU countries, a child under 18 needs a companion. A child between the ages of 16 and 18 who has left Ukraine without any problems is considered an unaccompanied child in other countries and is assigned a temporary guardian. And this is a problem because the citizens of Ukraine do not understand who the temporary guardian is and what powers he has over children, “Gerasymchuk said.
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She called the situation with family forms of upbringing another problem. After all, in Ukraine there are a large number of them – foster family, foster family, family of guardians, trustees, family-type orphanage (DBST).
“In the EU, the only form is the foster family. It is difficult for the governments of these countries to understand our diversity. In Italy, for example, they do not understand what DBST is, who the foster parents are and what their powers are. Therefore, there, again, appoint their temporary guardian. This has some difficulties, because there is already a family, father and mother are educators. They are very worried and do not know how to treat the appointed guardian, “the commissioner explained.
Gerasymchuk pointed out that the staff representatives faced different situations. In particular, a family traveling abroad must understand where and with whom it is going. After all, according to the commissioner, there are cases when volunteers and organizations of various directions offered people help, promised to bring them to a good place, provide support and translation.
“They really brought, settled, and then left without accompaniment and translation. Meanwhile, the language barrier creates many different problems. It is difficult for people to understand how to apply for social benefits, receive support, how to place a child in school, and so on. That is, people passionately agree, not counting all the options, and then often keep quiet about it. This is the first time, “Gerasymchuk said.
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And secondly, according to the commissioner, foster parents or guardians know that if they cross the border, they are obliged to put all children on the consular register within one day. According to her, Ukraine must clearly understand where the child is and where to pick it up. However, there are cases when the organization that brought people with children abroad assured them that it is not necessary to register at the consulate, because it is a lot of problems. The family is then persuaded to move to another country. For example, from Germany to America.
“Parents are very worried and do not understand what to do next, because they received approval from the authorized body in Ukraine to move to this country, and not another. Such problematic situations arise when people do not fully know their rights and responsibilities and are “led” to not very fair games of various organizations and volunteers who took them out, “Gerasymchuk concluded.
Note that The Coordination Headquarters for the Protection of Children's Rights in Wartime includes 11 ministries, people's deputies of the Verkhovna Rada, various agencies and representatives of the public sector, international organizations, and experts. He informs the citizens of Ukraine how to act, what documents to prepare and what to check when entering another country, with whom to keep in touch. Consular registration is required.
It was reported that more than 650 children were injured in Ukraine as a result of full-scale armed aggression in Russia . According to official juvenile prosecutors, 229 children were killed and more than 421 injured.
