17-year-old Lera Halych, returned by the UMDPL from Russian deportation, took part in the European Parliament session

“I am telling about my experiences not so that the world knows my story. But for the world to understand that there are thousands of stories like mine. Hundreds of thousands of children are waiting to return home. And the fact that I was able to live through it and survive gives me the strength to be the voice of these children.

I want the leaders of different countries to hear me and help Ukraine bring its children home,” Lera said in her speech to parliamentarians in Strasbourg.

This week, the European Parliament met in Strasbourg. 17-year-old Valeria Galich, a girl who was returned by the Ukrainian Child Rights Network in November 2023 from forced displacement in Russia, joined the trip to Strasbourg as part of the Ukrainian delegation .

Lera was accompanied by her mother, Andriy Chernousov, board member of the Voices of Children (UMDPL members) and Olha Pustovit, communications expert at the Center for Civil Liberties.

Our delegation had the opportunity to talk to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Mecola, and the Vice President of the European Parliament, Meinfred Weber, and Lera had the opportunity to tell them her story in person.

“The return of Ukrainian children who were deported to the Russian Federation or to the non-government controlled territories of Ukraine does not have a clearly established mechanism.

The main purpose of deporting Ukrainian children to Russia is to forcibly change or erase their identity by changing their names and reissuing birth certificates. Since Russian law allows adoption of Ukrainian deported children, this automatically limits the possibility of identifying them,” said representatives of the Ukrainian delegation.

The main messages that the Ukrainian delegation addressed to the EU:

The EU should consider the deportation of Ukrainian children as part of the Russian government’s policy of genocide against the Ukrainian people.

It is important that EU institutions have a dedicated team and a sustainable, well-funded plan to help Ukraine identify, return and rehabilitate Ukrainian deported children.

If your child has been displaced to the Russian Federation or to the non-government controlled territory of Ukraine, please contact us:

► Phone number – +380 (50) 015 58 46

► Facebook page (write in private) – Ukrainian Child Rights Network

► Email address – ucrn.office@gmail.com

WE WILL HELP YOU RETURN YOUR CHILD TO THE TERRITORY OF A FREE UKRAINE.

“The Way Home” is a project aimed at finding and returning children displaced to Russia or to the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine, as well as reuniting families whose children are without parents during the occupation. The project is implemented by the Ukrainian Child Rights Network in partnership with Save the Children in Ukraine.

Our other partners are: Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine, EDUKIDS Charitable Foundation, Media Initiative for Human Rights.

The materials developed within the project do not necessarily reflect the official position of Save the Children.