‘Social services in Europe have taken away 255 children from Ukrainian refugees’, – ombudsman

Social services in European countries have removed 255 Ukrainian children from their parents.

Ombudsman Dmitry Lubinets reported this in an interview with Ukrainian media.

According to him, the worst situation has developed in Germany (71 cases), Poland (33), Italy (25), the Czech Republic (24), and Sweden (17).

“In January 2024, as the ombudsman of Ukraine, I sent a letter to Prime Minister Shmyhal, specifically requesting to take all possible measures to respond and establish cooperation at the level of competent authorities and intergovernmental agreements with other countries. The main goal is to facilitate the return of Ukrainian children to their legal representatives,” said Lubinets.

According to him, the common cause of such situations is the lack of appropriate documents for parents and other legal representatives, as well as the improper fulfillment, according to European officials, of parental duties, such as raising one’s voice, any physical impact on the child to calm them down and leaving them unsupervised for long periods.

It is worth recalling that last year, there were cases in European countries where juvenile services deprived Ukrainian refugees of parental rights and took away their children.