Lisa Yasko speech to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on the topic of the situation of Ukrainian children.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has unanimously voted in favor of a resolution on the situation of the children of Ukraine.
The resolution addresses the issues affecting all Ukrainian children. After all, each Ukrainian child is a victim of Russian aggression against Ukraine.
In this resolution, PACE:
✅ recognizes the deportation of Ukrainian children as a war crime;
✅ supports Point 4 of President Zelenskyy's peace plan, particularly the Bring Kids Back UA plan, as well as all of Ukraine's efforts to repatriate deported Ukrainian children;
✅ calls for the development of an effective legal mechanism for the return of Ukrainian children;
✅ includes in the sanctions lists those involved in the deportation of Ukrainian children
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"Dear colleagues,
It's so hard to talk about this topic. It's so hard to listen and to know the numbers, but they are all human lives.
It's so hard to think about what I want to say to you today, also in being a mother myself, how hard it is to look in the children's eyes every time Ukraine is bombed.
Today we talk about the biggest tragedies. But there are tragedies that may be called in a different way, but they are also tragedies.
Many children of Ukraine are currently away from their parents, or from one of their parents. Many lose their relatives, not by being deported, just because of the war.
It's so hard to know that, unfortunately, as our First Lady said today, that we have around only 400 cases that are successful cases when children were returned. What about almost 20 000? What about the mechanisms? What about the future?
If you ask me what you can do, please try to engage your governments to help us really with negotiations.
Yes, unfortunately, it may take up to 50 years or even more to solve that. Meantime, Russia is taking these children, and many of them are not only being sent to the frontline, they're being recruited to their secret services. They are being recruited against all the humanity, all the humanitarian values that we are fighting for here.
What can you do? You can sponsor any of the recovery projects for children, but please, sponsor them and help them long-term. You can also train specialists.
One fact. In our delegation, four of us became mothers or gave birth to children already when the war had started. So, you can imagine how it is for us.
For us, it's incredibly personal, political, and humanitarian, to make possible that we have some political solutions.
Let's leave it not only in the text, but please, try to sponsor and help more projects for Ukrainian children.
Prosthetics were mentioned. Children need to have hands and legs. It's not that hard to arrange that. If you help only one child, you'll bring much more joy, and light, and love, which is so much needed, and that is very often forgotten somehow. Please do it."
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