Only 8 children got the status of victims of the armed conflict in the Donbass over four years - human rights activist

Only 8 children have got the status of victims of the armed conflict in the Donbass over four years. This was reported by chairman of the board of directors of the NGO Global East Ukraine Alina Palash at a press conference in Kyiv today, - correspondent of OstroV reports.

"The Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers "On Approving the Procedure for Granting the Status of a Child Affected by War and Armed Conflicts" came into effect on April 25, 2018. As of April 2018, during the four years of war in Ukraine, only 8 children officially received the corresponding status (status of a child who suffered from military operations in the Donbass, - OstroV). And this is despite the fact that the number of killed, wounded and injured children, without mentioning those children whom psychological violence has been applied to as a result of living of child under the conditions of armed hostilities, temporary occupation and displacement, is far more", - she reported.

She said that according to international standards, these children were provided with the following guarantees: protection of children in the family, guarantees of necessary care and assistance, access to food and safe housing, medical care and education; prohibition of tortures, inhuman treatment or default in duties in relation to children; prohibition of the death penalty; preservation of the child's cultural environment; protection in case of deprivation of liberty; provision of humanitarian assistance and access of humanitarian organizations to children in times of armed conflicts.

"As of today, there are no mechanisms for state protection of these children in terms of legislation. In four years, we have only achieved that these children could get the status", - Alina Palash noted.