Norway allocates millions to help find and return Ukrainian children taken by Russia
Photo: Norway has allocated funds for the search and return of Ukrainian children (Getty Images)
Norway is stepping up its humanitarian support for Ukraine. The country has allocated funds for programs aimed at locating Ukrainian children whom Russia has illegally deported, according to Reuters.
Norway is channeling this new aid through UNICEF and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The funds are intended to support the search for missing persons, efforts to bring Ukrainians home, and their subsequent rehabilitation and reintegration.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide states that his country aims to draw attention to human rights violations related to Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
According to him, many Ukrainian children remain in Russia following illegal deportation or forced displacement.
Norway will allocate NOK 15 million, or about USD 1.6 million, to UNICEF.
These funds will be used to support the reintegration of children who have already returned to Ukraine, as well as to search for those who are considered missing.
Another NOK 10 million will go to the Central Tracing Agency (CTA) of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
This agency handles issues related to tracing people who have gone missing as a result of the war and helps determine their fate.
Thus, the total amount of new aid for these two areas amounts to NOK 25 million.
The EU has imposed sanctions against Russian officials, organizations, and other individuals involved in the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children.
The restrictions target those who facilitate their transfer to Russia and to the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, as well as their forced assimilation and militarized upbringing.
