ORPHANS IN PERIL
Sir, Among the millions of children still in Ukraine there are up to 100,000 orphans housed in nearly 700 children’s homes, according to Save the Children. Half the orphans are said to be disabled. These children are at increased risk of exploitation, abuse, neglect and human trafficking. Only a few thousand of them have been evacuated so far and there are concerns that these children will be left behind. They need our urgent assistance with evacuation and with finding them a home.
We urge the government to work with other countries and international bodies such as the UN and the Council of Europe to ensure that these children are evacuated and given help, and to prevent any risk of them being trafficked. We have a duty to protect the most vulnerable members of society and cannot leave these vulnerable children behind in Ukraine as Putin’s war rages on.
Brendan O’Hara, SNP MP for Argyll and Bute; Yasmin Qureshi, Labour MP for Bolton South East; Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws QC; Lord Alton of Liverpool; Baroness Cox; Baroness D’Souza; Baroness Northover; Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP, Leader, Democratic Unionist Party; Dr Lisa Cameron, SNP MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow; Chris Law, SNP MP for Dundee West; Archbishop Angaelos, Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London; the Right Rev Philip Mounstephen, Bishop of Truro; Dr Ewelina U. Ochab, IBAHRI programme lawyer; Emily Foale, IBAHRI Project Manager for Media Freedom; Dr Krish Kandiah, Founder, Sanctuary Foundation; Sally Keeble, former MP and minister; Chris Whitehouse, Trustee, Right To Life charity; David Campanale, Liberal Democrat parliamentary spokesperson, Sutton & Cheam; Aarif Abraham, barrister; Timothy Cho, Conservative Candidate for Denton South Ward; Andrew Copson, Chief Executive, Humanists UK; Yasmin Waljee, partner; Professor John Packer, Professeur Neuberger-Jesin, University of Ottawa; Ján Figeľ, EU Commissioner for Education, Culture and Youth 2004-9; Sam Mason, CEO of Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust; Joe Collins, Co-Executive Director, Yet Again UK; Jaya Pathak, Co-Executive Director, Yet Again UK; Professor Elizabeth A. Clark, Associate Director, ICLRS; Emma Dipper, Director, Gender and Religious Freedom; Ji Hyun Park, North Korea Human Rights Activist; the Rev Bonnie Evans-Hills, priest and convener, InterFaith Relations Committee, Scottish Episcopal Church; Federica D’Alessandra, Deputy Director of the Blavatnik School of Government’s Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict; Dr Caroline Bennett, International Association of Genocide Scholars; Rachel Miner, Executive Director, Bellwether International
The Times: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/times-letters-bidens-timidity-and-the-fate-of-taiwan-cg0bc09l0
