Protection or arbitrariness? Italian court blocks return of Ukrainian orphans to their homeland
15 August 2024 15:31
A juvenile court in Brescia, Italy, has ruled that 57 Ukrainian orphans aged 6 to 16 can remain in Italy. These children have been held in three centres in the province of Bergamo since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, reports "Komersant Ukrainian" reports with reference to ANSA.
According to the court decree, the custody of the Ukrainian minors was transferred to Italian social services “to keep them in their current locations” without setting any time limits. This decision effectively cancels the previous plans to extend their stay in Italy for two weeks.
Initially, the court agreed to the return of the children, as requested by the Ukrainian authorities, noting that there were “no grounds” to deny the claims of Kyiv’s representatives regarding the children who were “only temporarily in Italy” at Ukraine’s request.
However, the decree notes that “as reported in recent days by the guardians, the Ministry of Justice and the UNHCR”, many teenagers have filed or intend to file applications for international protection with the territorial commission, “fearing for their safety in connection with the return to areas close to the theatre of operations”. Therefore, “in the light of this new fact”, the court decided to “temporarily suspend the return of these minors to Ukraine to allow the commission to conduct its own investigation and make a decision on the applications filed by the minors”.
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The Brescia court, which also has jurisdiction over the territory of Bergamo, emphasises that “the return should be suspended for all minors, as they have, since their arrival in Italy, constituted essentially a single group represented by a single responsible person and therefore cannot be separated”.
Since yesterday, 34 of the children’s guardians have applied to the Bergamo police for international protection. Kyiv, through the Ukrainian Consulate in Italy, demanded their immediate return, but this was opposed by international child protection agencies, including UNHCR and UNICEF, as well as the 34 guardians of these orphans through their international protection applications.
The group of children arrived in the province of Bergamo in March 2022, along with several caregivers, and were immediately accepted by the local population. The children come from two orphanages in Berdiansk, where they fled when Russian troops were advancing.
The repatriation request was scheduled for Friday, 16 August, but has now been frozen by the Italian authorities. This is also due to the fact, according to the Italian newspaper, that many of the orphans are being treated in hospitals in Bergamo for various serious illnesses.
