The Council of Europe Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) has issued a statement today affirming that the unlawful deportation and forcible transfer of children of Ukraine in the context of Russia's war of aggression create risks of human trafficking and may fall within the definition of trafficking in human beings under Article 4 of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.
The statement coincides with the first anniversary of the landmark judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of 9 July 2025 in the case Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia, in which it found that Russia’s administrative practice of transferring Ukrainian children from occupied territories into Russia or Russian-controlled areas, accompanied by measures facilitating their adoption in Russia, was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Today’s GRETA statement is based on an analytical report conducted upon its initiative in 2026. The report highlights a number of recurring patterns which place unlawfully deported and forcibly transferred Ukrainian children in situations of acute vulnerability and significantly increase the risk of further abuse. These include the transfer of children to closed camps and institutions under the guise of evacuation or recreational activities, their involvement in forced labour and domestic work, placement of medically or socially vulnerable children in conditions of full dependency, confiscation of identity documents, changes in the children’s legal status, guardianship and citizenship, and illegal adoptions.
In several cases, children who had been repatriated to Ukraine were identified as victims of human trafficking by the Ukrainian authorities, after all the legal criteria for this, including exploitative purpose, were met.
GRETA notes that given the lack of access to children, the absence of monitoring and the fragmentation of information across jurisdictions, it is often difficult to establish an exploitative purpose of trafficking. As a result, exploitative outcomes may remain concealed, particularly in closed environments. Regardless of that, unlawfully deported and forcibly transferred children are in a situation of heightened vulnerability and face risks of exploitation due to separation from their families, isolation in closed environments, change of legal status and absence of independent monitoring.
The unlawful deportation and forcible transfer of Ukrainian children is not limited to the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine and the territory of the Russian Federation but has also included their relocation to Belarus.
GRETA calls on Belarus, as a State Party to the Council of Europe Anti-Trafficking Convention, to prevent risks of trafficking of Ukrainian children, identify potential victims, provide them with assistance, and punish those responsible.
