Ensuring children's rights in transnational families settled in Lithuania: the case of war refugee children from Ukraine

Abstract

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, approximately 86,000 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Lithuania in search of temporary settlement. The majority of these arrivals were women with preschool and school-aged children, as well as unaccompanied minors. The Government of Lithuania swiftly mobilized its education, social, health, and other systems to receive war refugees from Ukraine. Initially, the most pressing concerns were accommodating refugees and addressing their basic needs. War refugee children represent a particularly vulnerable group, and their social inclusion is essential for their full development and well-being. Aiming to investigate the situation of child right implementation among Ukrainian war refugee children in Lithuania, a qualitative study conducted in 2024. The participants were upper-grade students who arrived in Lithuania from Ukraine after the outbreak of hostilities, along with teachers who work with Ukrainian refugee children. All participants either have family members still in Ukraine, or members who have migrated to other countries. The main focus was on the role and efforts of the education system in the process of child right implementation. The research results reveal that the rights of Ukrainian war refugee children are not sufficiently guaranteed in Lithuania. The main problems are based on discrimination because of the language, insufficient living conditions, complicated learning process, lack opportunities to be involved into non-formal education activities.