New Legislative Changes for Children Affected by War
The Verkhovna Rada has passed new bills aimed at resolving issues related to granting status to children affected by war.
These new regulations also officially establish the status of deported and temporarily displaced minors.
This was reported by the Speaker of the Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk.
In Ukraine, the procedure for obtaining the status of a child affected by military actions is regulated by the Law "On Child Protection" and Cabinet resolutions. Previously, there were inconsistencies in the documents regarding the basis and who could grant this status.
The aim of Bill No. 12385 is to eliminate these inconsistencies. The document specifies that the status of a child affected by war is granted based on:
- the declared or registered place of residence;
- the registration of the child as an internally displaced person (IDP);
- a request if the child's place of residence is not registered or is located in a combat zone;
- the discovery of such a child by government authorities or local self-government bodies.
Bill No. 9495 officially establishes the concepts of deported and forcibly displaced children. As stated in the explanatory note, it sets the legal framework for their return and aims to promote the further integration of children into Ukrainian society.
Deportation is recognized as the illegal relocation of a child to the territory of an aggressor state or its allies without the consent of the child and their legal representatives. In this context, forced relocation refers to the transfer of a child from Ukraine to temporarily occupied territories or the Russian Federation without their consent.
