“Restoring Donbas” demands for respect for the rights of children in Donetsk and Luhansk regions

22:15 / 19 Nov. 2015 / 905

Children from Donbas are constantly face with the violation of their rights. Government agencies do not conduct systematic work in order to minimize these facts. On November 19, it was stated by specialized experts during a press conference of community initiative “Restoring Donbas”.

In particular, according to their estimates, requirements of UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, including Article 38-39 on the special protection of child victims of armed conflict, are not followed in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Their right to healthy development and the safety of life, the right to protection by the State (including – on the protection of children with special needs or children, who have lost parental care) are violated.

The experts emphasize not only the facts of inactivity of the state, but focus on the untruthful information, which is published in official statistics on Donbas children issue.

In particular, according to Elena Petryayeva – the head of community initiative «Restoring Donbas» – after one and a half year of war, which took thousands of civilian lives, the official data on the number of orphans and children deprived of parental care (according to Donetsk Regional military civil administration) has not changed significantly and even has decreased.

Another obvious discrepancy between the actual statistical indicators – is the number of children per 100 places in kindergartens under Ukrainian control in Donbas Ukraine and adjacent territories.

“The statistics does not reflect the real picture, namely, the queues lining up in order to obtain a place in kindergarten for the child. Especially it comes about places of mass residents of IDPs, “- Elena Petryayeva said.

There is a critical situation concerning the movement of orphans through the demarcation line in ATO area, their departure to the territories under Ukrainian control. Experts on the Rights of the Child and Lyudmila Volynets – the head of the Secretariat Interfractional deputy associations of the Verkhovna Rada “Protection of children’s rights – is a priority of the state,” –  stated that this problem can not be resolved due to the closure of the register of documents on the uncontrolled territories and total disregard for documents, which are issued by DNR and LNR.

All along of such categorical position from the government, the issue of legal ways of movement of children orphans from ATO area is still open. The issue of the registration of children born on the uncontrolled territories is still unsolved. In fact, they lose the right to a name and nationality under such circumstances.

Children of IDPs from Donbas also face to plethora problems. The lack of systematic work of the state led to the fact that most of them are deprived of the basic health care.

“Statistics demonstrates that 98% of IDP’s families have left with their children. It comes about 162 thousand children of IDPs between the ages of birth to 18 years. Nowadays, 112 thousand children have appealed to medical institutions. However, only 66 thousand children have been registered. It is 30%. Other 70% of children of IDPs are deprived of normal conditions for treatment. Meanwhile, among them there are children with hematology, hemophilia and other dangerous illnesses, “- Alena Tereshchenko – the expert on children’s rights – stated.

At the same time, the expert noted that the issue of disabled children among the displaced persons has not been discussed in any inter-agency headquarter. “There is no such statistics in any ministry. It is not known where these children are gone,” – she said.

By the end of the press conference, Elena Petryayeva – the head of community initiative «Restoring Donbas» – signed an appeal to Arseniy Yatsenyuk – the Prime Minister of Ukraine – which set out suggestions, which were worked out by experts together with profiled experts on the issue of improving the protection of the rights of Donbas children.

A key element of the suggestions is a comprehensive state program (there is no such program in any ministry in none of the regions). In addition, a letter includes some private moments, such as the inadmissibility of elimination of the criminal police in Ukraine for minors and reduction of civil servants in the children’s rights field.

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