Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada\u2019s ongoing work to secure the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russian officials shows how Ottawa is attempting to work with a spread of nations to advance practical, humanitarian goals.<\/p>\n
In an interview ahead of a Monday conference in Brussels, Anand said Ottawa is concentrated on what it will probably achieve for Ukrainians, relatively than whether Russia is currently committing an act of genocide.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, the necessary query is, what are we doing here and now, what are we doing to bring Ukrainian children home,\u201d she told The Canadian Press.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe problems referring to terminology and the classification of the illegal and unjustifiable Russian invasion will probably be heard within the international court system. Everyone knows that Russia\u2019s actions are against international law \u2014 they\u2019re reprehensible and we’ll do all we are able to to carry Russia to account.\u201d<\/p>\n
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In 2024, the Trudeau government co-launched with Ukraine a global coalition of countries pushing for the return of Ukrainian children abducted in the course of the war. Canada is co-hosting a Monday summit of that coalition in Brussels to take stock of those efforts.<\/p>\n
Since March 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin and a senior Russian official have been subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant on charges of illegal deportation and transfer of youngsters.<\/p>\n
Ukraine and its allies imagine Russia has effectively abducted 20,000 children; about 2,000 of them have returned. Yale University\u2019s Humanitarian Research Lab believes there are literally 35,000 Ukrainian children being forcibly held in Russia, the parts of Ukraine it occupies and Belarus.<\/p>\n
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Moscow has rejected these claims and at times has suggested children have been voluntarily delivered to safety, particularly orphans. Russian officials have also repeatedly claimed Ukrainian culture doesn’t exist, particularly in large areas of Ukraine where people speak Russian.<\/p>\n
Despite Russia\u2019s claims, human rights groups have documented cases of youngsters being forcibly adopted into Russian families where they’re made to reject Ukrainian culture. They report that some abducted children are militarily trained.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen these children are stolen from their families, they undergo, in lots of cases, a strategy of indoctrination, where they\u2019re forced to learn the Russian language, they\u2019re forced to sing Russian songs, they\u2019re forced to wish within the Russian language and tackle the culture of the Russian people,\u201d Anand said.<\/p>\n
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While the coalition has succeeded in reuniting some families, it faces challenges in identifying children and maintaining contact during an lively conflict.<\/p>\n
The coalition is meeting this week to take a look at how recent funding may help with identifying and contacting these children, and to review efforts to assemble evidence of possible crimes that would in the future be prosecuted.<\/p>\n
\u201cFamilies are the bedrock of communities and powerful communities ensure a robust country. And so this is completely central to, in my estimation, the work that Canada can do internationally,\u201d Anand said.<\/p>\n
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