“Not treated as human beings”: Disabled children left behind in Ukraine
An investigation by a human rights organisation has found that children with severe disabilities have been “dumped” in children’s homes that are too overrun to care for them.
Disability Rights International carried out the investigation, finding that the children were tied to their beds in understaffed institutions whose remaining staff were unable to cope.
Halyna Kurylo, a representative of the organisation, visited an institution in south west Ukraine and said the children there were not being “treated as human beings”.
“Because of their disabilities, they’re not treated as human beings, they are only kept alive here,” Ms Kurylo said.
“My heart breaks as a mother of two children.
“Even though they’re in a safe place, their state will deteriorate because they are not getting any kind of stimulation, any kind of rehabilitation and to me, this is further disabling them.”
After gaining exclusive access to a western Ukrainian institution, the BBC reported that its staff has been caring for 22 teenage girls from the east who were left behind by their carers, who fled to other countries with “the less disabled children”.
“They (former carers) were so selfish that they ran out of here as fast as they could,” Vasyl Markulin, the director of the institution, told the BBC.
“I thought they would come here and tell us who had epilepsy, who was incontinent and so on.
“But then they sat here until lunchtime and left.”
The report from the human rights organisation comes just over a month after the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities warned that the lives of an estimated 2.7 million people with disabilities could be at risk in the conflict.
“People with disabilities have limited or no access to emergency information, shelters and safe havens, and many have been separated from their support networks, leaving them unable to respond to the situation and navigate their surroundings,” the council said in a statement.
The council indicated that a lack of reports of people with disabilities having reached the border or been internally displaced suggests that many haven’t been able to flee to safety.
#Ukraine: As a result of Russia's military aggression, the UN Cttee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities urges States+UN+civil society+stakeholders to ensure people w/ #disabilities are accounted for, protected+provided w/ access to humanitarian aid: https://t.co/mTHVpZ1Lbn pic.twitter.com/JorLknN3kx
— UN Treaty Bodies (@UNTreatyBodies) April 14, 2022
“The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires States to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities when meeting their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law,” the statement continued.
“Ratified by both the Russian Federation and Ukraine, the Convention requires States to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of people with disabilities in situations of risk, including armed conflict and humanitarian emergencies.”
The committee called on Russia to end its hostilities immediately and urged both countries, UN agencies, and others involved in the conflict to “recognise and respond to the pleas and requirements of people with disabilities” caught in the middle.
“Measures need to be taken to ensure that all people with disabilities are accounted for, protected and provided with immediate access to humanitarian aid, taking into account their individual support requirements,” the committee said, concluding that it would continue to monitor the situation.
To see the full BBC story, click here.
Image: BBC News (YouTube)