Flemish foster families are taking in 68 vulnerable Ukrainian children aged 10 to 12 from the area around Bucha who were evacuated from the country with a flight from the Belgian Defence Forces.
The children landed in Belgium on Thursday and will be taken care of together in an unknown place for about three days. After that, they will go to foster families in Flanders. The intention is that they will eventually return to Ukraine.
"We hope that they can recover here and can forget the war, even if it is only for a short while," said Flemish Minister for Family Wouter Beke. "After the war and the reconstruction of the country, the children will return to Ukraine, but we want to make our contribution this way."
The Flemish Department of Foster Care ensured an accelerated screening of the foster families, and together with Minor-Ndako (which provides appropriate care and guidance for children in a problematic situation) is responsible for the follow-up and guidance of the children and the families.
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The children will have access to the necessary medical and psychosocial care and, if necessary, will also receive psychological assistance to help them cope with the traumatic experiences they have gone through. They will also get appropriate education according to their talents and needs.
"Women and children are the first victims of this terrible war in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, almost 5 million children have fled Ukraine," said State Secretary for Asylum and Migration Sammy Mahdi.
"Many other children remain behind in the war zone and are in great danger of becoming victims of violence, are short of food or might fall into the hands of human traffickers," he said. "We must try to avoid this as much as possible. With this operation, we are taking these vulnerable children out of the horror of war and offering them a safe haven for as long as the war lasts."
Na kinderen uit Afghanistan, vandaag kinderen uit Oekraïne. Om het met de woorden van het team te zeggen: “Als we het al niet eens voor kinderen doen, voor wie dan wel?” Hopelijk hoeft het niet vaak te gebeuren, maar wat kunnen we op straffe mensen bij Defensie rekenen ✊
— Sammy Mahdi (@SammyMahdi) April 21, 2022
Translation of tweets: "69 Ukrainian children just landed safely in Melsbroek. Thanks to the cooperation with Minister Beke, they will get a safe haven in Flanders. Thank you to everyone who worked hard in the past few days to make this happen."
"After children from Afghanistan, now children from Ukraine. In the words of the team: 'If we do not even do it for children, who will we do it for?' Hopefully, it won't have to happen often, but what great people we can count on in Defence."
