The first group of unaccompanied children returned to Ukraine from Lithuania last Friday, Ilma Skuodienė, head of Lithuania’s State Child Rights Protection and Adoption Service, has said.
“On Friday, 34 children left for Ukraine. They reached Ukraine safely and were handed over to their parents. This is the first group to return to Ukraine,” Skuodienė told BNS on Tuesday.
According to her, the parents expressed their wish for their children to return, and some Ukrainian families were also preparing to go back to their homeland.
The permission for the return of the 34 children was obtained in cooperation with the Ukrainian Embassy and local troops.
A total of 1,137 unaccompanied children have arrived in Lithuania since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Most of them are living in groups, some are staying with relatives, and a few children needed temporary care in Lithuania.
There are currently seven children who were taken in by Lithuanian carers, Skuodienė said, adding that care documents for three more children are being processed.
Read more: ‘Our kids said we need to help’: Lithuanians took in three Ukrainian girls
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