Did Belarus Contribute to the Deportation of Ukrainian Children?

Opposition leaders from Belarus in exile announced in an initial report that their government is involved in illegal deportation processes of children from Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine. The report from the National Crisis Management Agency, a group of political opponents to President Alexander Lukashenko’s government, states that 2,150 Ukrainian children, including orphans aged between six and fifteen, have been transferred to so-called rehabilitation and health care camps on Belarusian territory. Reuters did not receive responses to questions sent to Lukashenko's office. The former Ukrainian prosecutor general told Reuters last year that there have been cases of forced deportation of Ukrainians to Russia and Belarus. Ukrainian prosecutors did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Ukraine claims that around 20,000 children have been unlawfully transferred to Russia since its invasion on February 24, 2022, and that some of these children have been put up for adoption. Julia Ioffe, an assistant professor at University College London specializing in children's rights law, stated that if proven, it is "strongly likely" that Belarus is violating the Convention on the Rights of the Child. She added, "Belarus's actions could also amount to a crime against humanity in the form of 'forced population transfer' under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, provided there is sufficient evidence that the forced transfers are widespread or systematic." She emphasized that Belarus cannot be considered a neutral state capable of lawfully evacuating children as there is no evidence of Ukraine's consent. The report asserts that the transfer of children to Belarus is illegal and violates the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. It stated that children were transported by bus from Russian-controlled territories in Ukraine and then by trains to Belarus. It added that "Lukashenko personally ordered the transfer of orphans to Belarus and facilitated their access with financial and organizational support." The report accused him of committing war crimes.