The Bureau of the European Network of Ombudspersons for Children (ENOC), chaired in 2026 by the Ombudsperson for Children’s Rights of the Republic of Moldova, Vasile Coroi, issued an Open Letter on the Intercountry Adoption of Ukrainian Children Temporarily Relocated to Other European Countries Following the Russian Federation’s Armed Aggression Against Ukraine. The letter expresses serious concerns regarding cases of intercountry adoption involving Ukrainian children who have been temporarily relocated to other European countries as a result of the war in Ukraine.
Through this Open Letter, the ENOC Bureau calls on European institutions and states to ensure a coordinated approach to the protection of Ukrainian children who have been temporarily evacuated and to prevent emergency protection measures adopted in the context of war from becoming permanent situations of separation from their families and country of origin, contrary to their rights and best interests.
The Letter recalls international standards and safeguards governing intercountry adoption and highlights the serious risks associated with initiating adoption procedures without a full and comprehensive assessment of a child’s legal and family status, carried out in cooperation with the authorities of the child’s country of origin.
While the concerns raised relate to cases reported in certain European countries, they reflect risks that may arise in any European state hosting Ukrainian children who have been temporarily evacuated.
In the context of the severity of the reported situation and the systemic risks it reveals, the ENOC Bureau calls on the relevant European, national, and regional authorities to:
- promote a coordinated European response to the identified risks related to the intercountry adoption of children temporarily evacuated from Ukraine, based on common safeguards and strict compliance with international child’s rights standards;
- suspend any intercountry adoption proceedings involving Ukrainian children who have been temporarily evacuated until there is a clear and final determination of the child’s legal status and until all reasonable measures to identify and reunify the family have been exhausted;
- ensure ongoing and effective cooperation with the competent authorities of Ukraine, including the central authority responsible for intercountry adoption and the national independent child’s rights institution, in all cases involving children evacuated from Ukraine;
- strengthen registration and monitoring mechanisms for children temporarily evacuated from Ukraine, including those coming from residential care institutions, to prevent disappearances, child trafficking, illegal adoptions, and all other forms of exploitation or abuse;
- strictly uphold the obligation to maintain and protect children’s family relationships, including relationships between siblings, and avoid separating them except where such separation is demonstrably necessary and in the child’s best interests;
- ensure that child protection measures remain temporary and proportionate, with priority given to family reunification and, whenever possible and in the child’s best interests, to voluntary return under safe and dignified conditions;
- guarantee children’s right to be heard and ensure that their views are taken into account in all proceedings affecting them, including any special protection or adoption procedures, in accordance with their age and level of maturity.
The ENOC Bureau’s Open Letter can be accessed at the following link: https://enoc.eu/wp-content/uploads/ENOC-Bureau-Open-letter-on-intercountry-adoption-of-UKR-children-in-EU.pdf
We would like to remind readers that ENOC comprises 43 independent national institutions for children’s rights from 34 Council of Europe member states, 22 of which are members of the European Union. The ENOC Bureau consists of seven members elected by the ENOC General Assembly.
More information about ENOC’s activities is available on its website: https://enoc.eu/
