Ukraine: Forcibly Deported Children

Will Forster Excerpts

Wednesday 21st May 2025 Westminster Hall

[Mr Will Forster (Woking) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart.

First, I want to thank—genuinely, from the bottom of my heart—the hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire South (Johanna Baxter) for her leadership on this deeply distressing issue. Her introductory speech was emotional, powerful and passionate; there were not many dry eyes in this Chamber when she was speaking. I was on the Ukraine trip with her and other colleagues for the three-year anniversary, and it was very moving to see for myself what has happened and is happening in Ukraine. The thing that stuck out for her and for me was the appalling actions of the Russian Government in removing a generation of children from Ukraine, which is what this debate is about.

Each story of a child being removed from their Ukrainian family, where they belong, to be taken to Russia, is moving and appalling, but let me give an example to illustrate the scale of what is happening. There are around 20,000 children in my Woking constituency; imagine if every child in my constituency, or in most of the constituencies of other Members present, was taken overnight. Imagine if they vanished—they just went. That is the scale of what we are dealing with. It is the theft of a generation, and standing up to that will define us.

According to research by Queen Mary University of London, it is estimated that clinically significant psychological trauma is present among 35% of adolescents in Ukraine. Research in the same report shows high levels of post-traumatic stress disorder among displaced children, with trauma linked not only to conflict exposure but to family separation, loss, property damage, economic hardship and disrupted education. The findings emphasise the psychological toll that the war is taking. It extends beyond the battlefield and will be particularly profound for the children abducted by the Russian state. For them, the risk of PTSD will rise significantly.

Back in March, I tabled a written question asking the Foreign Secretary what steps the UK Government were taking to provide funding to track and return the kidnapped children, particularly following the appalling decision of President Donald Trump to withdraw funding from the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab. In response, the Government said:

“The UK has supported ‘Save Ukraine’…and ‘Bring Kids Back UA’ through The Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine.”

They noted the return of children through Qatari mediation last September and expressed gratitude to Qatar for that.

But let us be honest. Our Government’s support was lacking in detail, lacking in scale and particularly lacking in urgency. It made no mention of the United States or a broader international agreement and broader international pressure to bring these children home. It is clear that the current UK efforts just have not been enough. They have not met the significant challenge. We need to support the work of the Bring Kids Back initiative and the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, but we also need to go beyond that.

Applying more pressure on the United States, via our special relationship, is key. It is time for the UK to take a stronger line. Our Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary should not be afraid to challenge President Donald Trump, to ensure the release of the thousands of children stolen from Ukraine. Trump’s appalling bromance with Putin is disgusting, but if we have that special relationship with the United States, we should be asking and demanding that the US do something. Will the Minister confirm whether either the Prime Minister or the Foreign Office has raised this issue with the United States, how many times they have done so and what the United States has said in return?