Since the beginning of hostilities between Russia and Ukraine in February of 2022, reports have identified close to 20,000 children who have been relocated from occupied Ukrainian territory to camps deep within Belarus and the Russian Federation—even to Siberia. On March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova. Pursuant to these warrants, the ICC charged President Putin and Commissioner Lvova-Belova with war crimes, focusing on child victims’ unlawful deportation and transfer. In light of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which both parties have ratifed, these unlawful acts demand immediate international action to restore children to their homes and provide them with just reparations for their collective abduction and, in many cases, forced adoption. While international law recognizes a right to compensation for these wrongful acts, child victims of forced transfer in Ukraine are entitled to more than just monetary compensation under a combination of international law instruments.

This Note examines the challenges in establishing rights to reparation for children who are forcibly displaced during conflict, with a focus on child victims of forced transfer. It begins by laying the groundwork of foundational principles found in international law, the child welfare field, and transitional justice, such as the “best interests of the child,” in addition to “child-sensitive” and “transformative” approaches to reparations. It then articulates international legal norms governing reparations and compensation for violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law (IHL).

Next, it outlines different reparations mechanisms that have emerged to address, separately, displacement and child victims in different contexts. It then makes the case that forcibly transferred Ukrainian children are entitled to a wide variety of potentially high-impact reparations, not limited to traditional monetary compensation schemes. It proposes a combination of measures that may be instituted even before the end of hostilities to support children’s rights to return to their home country and receive compensation for their harms, including land restitution, educational and psychosocial programs, and standardized citizenship and documentation procedures, among others. While these are high impact measures that have the potential to address violations of international law on the state level, recognize and vindicate the rights of victims, and support the reconstruction of Ukraine in the long term, this Note also discusses challenges that may arise in implementing such a mechanism in Ukraine.

Continue Reading “Abduction and Adoption: Rights to Reparation for Forcibly Displaced Children During Armed Conflict“