Two children were born after their fathers had been arrested / Photo from UNIAN

As many as 177 children of arrested Crimean Tatar activists and citizen journalists in Russia-occupied occupied Crimea grow up without fathers.

This was announced by coordinator of the Crimean Childhood project, the wife of the convicted person involved in the second Hizb ut-Tahrir case in Bakhchysarai Mumine Saliyeva during an online conference of NGO Crimean Solidarity.

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"As a result of mass searches in March and July this year, 19 children were added to the lists of children of political prisoners and two more were born after their fathers had been arrested. Today, 177 underage children are growing up without their fathers, and 25 of them have severe medical diagnoses due to stress. We record psychosomatic and physiological changes of each child almost daily, and this is an important problem that needs to be monitored by human rights commissioners, state and international institutions for the protection of children's rights," she said.

After Russia had occupied Crimea, the Bizim Balalar [Our Children] and Crimean Childhood charities were created on the peninsula. They help children whose fathers were arrested for political reasons.

Crimean Platform to end Russian occupation on the peninsula

  • The Crimean Platform will operate at several levels.
  • The first is the highest political level, which will be joined by foreign heads of state and government. The second is the level of heads of foreign policy departments and defense ministers, the third is the interparliamentary level, and the fourth is the level of non-governmental experts.
  • An expert network will be created to enhance the efficiency of government actions, as well as attracting additional intellectual resources to the platform.
  • Kyiv will host the Crimean Platform Summit in May 2021.