Today Shade for Children provided funds for the repatriation of 10 Ukrainian children from Italy. Italy has the EU's most robust protections for unaccompanied minors, a 2017 response to refugees fleeing in boats across the Mediterranean. Apparently, many of the tens of thousands of Ukrainian children in Italy were given refugee status and their laws allow their guardian (court appointed Italian) or even the kids themselves to choose to stay in Italy. The problem is that the Ukrainian kids either don't have orphan status (and can't be adopted) or they have orphan status, in which case there is a legal route for adoption- in neither case does another country have the right to keep them (or allow them to choose to stay) without due process. Russia is guilty of abducting Ukrainian children; it seems Italy, and perhaps some other EU countries are equally guilty.

Posted by Shade For Children at 2023-08-04 20:38:11 UTC