For the time being, the 57 orphans between the ages of 6 and 16 who have been hosted in three Bergamo centers since the beginning of the conflict with Russia remain in Italy. This was decided by the Juvenile Court of Brescia which, with a decree, confirmed, with immediate effect, the entrustment of the Ukrainian minors hosted in the province of Bergamo to the Italian Social Services "so that they may keep them placed in their current reception centers", in fact without time limits.

The decree notes that "as reported in recent days by guardians, the Ministry of Justice and UNHCR" numerous children have presented, and others intend to present, applications for international protection to the territorial commission "fearing for their safety in relation to the return to areas close to the theatre of war operations in the recrudescence phase". And therefore "in light of this new fact" it deems "to temporarily suspend the return to Ukraine of the aforementioned minors in order to allow the commission to carry out its investigation and make the necessary decisions in relation to the requests presented by the minors".

The Brescia court - which also has jurisdiction over the Bergamo area - also highlights that "the return must be suspended for all minors since they, since their arrival in Italy, have constituted a substantially unitary group, represented by a single person responsible and therefore not divisible".

Since yesterday, 34 guardians of these children had presented themselves at the police station in Bergamo to present their requests for international protection. Kiev had requested, through the Ukrainian consulate in Italy, their immediate repatriation, but international agencies for the protection of minors, from UNHCR to UNICEF, and precisely the guardians of 34 of these orphans through the request for international protection, immediately took a stand against this hypothesis. Therefore, for now, no one will leave from the reception facilities of Rota Imagna, Pontida and Bedulita.

The group of children had arrived in the Bergamo area in March 2022 together with some educators and had been immediately welcomed by the Bergamo population. They came from two orphanages in Berdyansk, a city on the Black Sea from where they had fled while Russian troops were advancing. The request for repatriation had been set for Friday, August 16, but has now been frozen by the Italian authorities. Also because many of the orphans are being treated in hospitals in Bergamo for various serious pathologies. The reason for such a rush to want to call these children back home, who are also without families, is not clear: according to the Italian authorities, their interest must prevail and therefore for now they will continue to be hosted in our country for an indefinite period.

(Unioneonline/D)

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