430 children were taken away from Ukrainian families in European countries, the National Social Service of Ukraine reported.
Germany recorded 122 such cases, Poland 39, Norway and Spain 20 cases each. The head of the service Vasyl Lutsyk explained that the reason for the removal of children can be ignorance of the legislation of the European country or different approach to upbringing. He said:
“For example, when a child is loudly scolded in the street, when a child alone, for example, under the age of ten years old is sent to school, which in principle in Ukraine is usual, but in many European countries it is forbidden.”
He also added that children can also be taken away for objective reasons, for example, if parents have health problems. European social services set the main task to find relatives or legal representatives who are ready to come, take the child away and take care of him/her in the future.
Social services of European countries seized 255 children from parents who left Ukraine, ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said in April. Lubinets claimed that he appealed to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal to get the government to co-operate with European countries on the issue and help resolve it. The most Ukrainian children were removed by social services in Germany – 71, Poland – 33, Italy – 25, Czech Republic – 24 and Sweden – 17.
