Italian court handed a Ukrainian child over to a foreign family despite a ban – Lubinets
This was reported by Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada’s Commissioner for Human Rights.
Dmytro Lubinets stated that an Italian court had placed a Ukrainian child with a foreign family, thereby violating the moratorium on intercountry adoption currently in force in Ukraine during the war.
According to the ombudsman, this ban was introduced to protect evacuated and forcibly displaced Ukrainian children, children whose parents have gone missing under special circumstances, and children whose parents are defending the country.
As Lubinets noted, the child was evacuated to Italy back in 2022. Her father is missing, but she has a mother who holds parental rights, as well as biological sisters.
Despite this, according to the Ombudsman, the Juvenile Court of Lecce in the Apulia region ruled in favour of the child’s adoption by foreigners.
Lubinec emphasised that, in his view, this decision grossly violates international standards for the protection of children’s rights, as the priority must be to keep the child within her family and country of birth.
According to him, the Italian court not only ignored the Ukrainian moratorium on intercountry adoption but also the fact that the child has a family – a mother and biological sisters.
The Ombudsman also stated that the court had disregarded the parents’ actual involvement in the case, limiting itself to merely a formal acknowledgement of their ‘absence’, including that of the father.
According to Lubinets, this constitutes a violation of the child’s right to maintain family ties and a disregard for the norms of international law.
What else did the Ombudsman say?
The Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights reported that the child’s biological sisters have already been returned to Ukraine, but the child herself is currently unable to be reunited with them.
Separately, Lubinets stated that, in his view, the Italian court’s decision was preceded by systemic violations. Among these, he cited the removal of Ukrainian legal representatives, the appointment of foreign guardians, and restrictions on Ukrainian diplomats’ access to the children.
He added that, according to his information, such systemic problems have been recorded not only in Italy, but also in Germany and Switzerland.
Furthermore, the Ombudsman emphasised that similar risks have been identified regarding a further 82 children from the Chinadiyevo boarding nursery school, the ‘Emerald City’ sanatorium and social rehabilitation centre, and the Sumy Children’s Home named after S.P. Suprun.
Lubinec stressed that, in his view, the Italian court’s decision must be appealed immediately; the adoption of Ukrainian children by foreigners is unacceptable, and the child must be returned to Ukraine to her mother without delay.
He also stated that children who were evacuated abroad must be returned.
Who Lubinets approached
The Ombudsman reported that he had already sent a letter of response to the Prime Minister of Ukraine requesting that immediate measures be taken to reunite the family and return all Ukrainian children home.
Separately, he called on other state bodies, in particular the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, to join in this effort.
According to Lubinets, he also approached the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Pina Picerno, to bring this matter before the European Parliament.
In addition, the appeal was sent to the Special Envoy of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the situation of children in Ukraine, Tordis Kolbrun Reikfjord Hilfadottir, the President of the National Coordination of Ombudsmen of Italy and the Ombudsman of the Lazio Region, Marino Fardelli, the European Network of Ombudsmen for Children, as well as the Italian Directorate for Children and Adolescents.
Lubinec added that his adviser Oles Horodetskyi is monitoring this case directly in Italy.
As reported by ThePublic, Ukraine is repatriating children from Russia via unofficial routes and special operations
Follow us on Telegram
