Responding to Cross-Border Risks & Ensuring International Protection for Unaccompanied and Separated Children from Ukraine in Europe
Eurochild cosigns a joint statement calling for urgent, coordinated EU leadership and long-term investment to protect displaced children from Ukraine and safeguard their safety, development, and future prospects.
Four years into the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the under-noted organisations across Europe issue this joint statement to warn of the urgent need to address the needs and risks facing unaccompanied and separated children and young people displaced from Ukraine as the EU considers the future of temporary protection and longer-term pathways for people displaced from Ukraine.
What began as an emergency response has become a protracted, structurally fragile situation in which children and young people’s safety, development, and future prospects are increasingly shaped by fragmented systems rather than coherent protection frameworks.
While this statement focuses on unaccompanied and separated children and young people displaced from Ukraine, many of the risks described reflect broader and long-standing protection gaps affecting unaccompanied and separated children across Europe, irrespective of country of origin. Fragmented guardianship systems, uneven access to legal support, and limited cross-border case cooperation continue to leave many children exposed to harm. Addressing these systemic weaknesses is essential not only to protect children from Ukraine, but also to strengthen Europe’s overall child protection architecture in cross-border contexts.
