--- title: "Call to rally nations to help Ukraine bring home children, detained civilians and POWs" description: "Canada, Norway and Ukraine will convene foreign ministers and international partners this month to support Ukraine’s efforts to return, rehabilitate and reintegrate Ukrainian deported children, detained civilians and prisoners of war." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "WAR IN EUROPE OP-ED" author: "James Christoff, Anne Beathe Kristiansen and Scherba Olexander" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/james-christoff-anne-beathe-kristiansen-and-scherba-olexander/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-09-27-call-to-rally-nations-to-help-ukraine-bring-home-children-detained-civilians-and-pows/" published: "2026-09-27T23:56:59" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 742 --- # Call to rally nations to help Ukraine bring home children, detained civilians and POWs > Canada, Norway and Ukraine will convene foreign ministers and international partners this month to support Ukraine’s efforts to return, rehabilitate and reintegrate Ukrainian deported children, detained civilians and prisoners of war. By James Christoff, Anne Beathe Kristiansen and Scherba Olexander · Published 28 September 2026, 01:56 SAST ## Key points - Each morning at 9am, Ukraine falls silent for those killed — and those still waiting to come home. - Thousands of Ukrainian children have been forcibly deported, while civilians and prisoners of war remain unlawfully detained in Russia. - Canada, Norway and Ukraine will convene international partners in Toronto on 28-29 September to advance their return, rehabilitation and reintegration. - The organisers say bringing them home is both a humanitarian imperative and essential to a just, lasting peace. ## Content Every morning at 9am, Ukraine stops. Across its cities, loudspeakers normally used to warn of incoming Russian air strikes broadcast the steady tick of a clock. City streets full of life fall silent. Traffic lights turn red. Cars stop. For one minute, a country pauses. This is Ukraine’s daily moment of silence, a nationwide act of remembrance for those killed in Russia’s illegal war. In workplaces, homes, schools, markets and on highways, Ukrainians pause to honour those who gave their lives defending their country’s sovereignty and freedom, and remember the thousands of civilians whose lives have been lost to Russia’s aggression. The silence also mirrors the absence felt by thousands of families whose loved ones have yet to come home. Among them are the thousands of Ukrainian children who have been forcibly transferred and unlawfully deported by Russia over the course of its war. Separated from their families and communities, many have had parts of their core identity stripped away: their language, their culture, and even their names. Others are civilians unlawfully detained in territories temporarily occupied by Russia. Many have suffered consequences for teaching their language, practising their culture, speaking out against occupation, or sharing the truth about what they have witnessed. Some have been transferred to detention facilities in Russia, where they are held without due process, denied contact with loved ones, deprived of adequate medical care and shielded from independent monitoring. For Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian custody, conditions remain similarly concerning. Returnees have reported harsh treatment, while independent bodies have documented widespread abuse, including torture and sexual violence. ![epa09413658 Ukrainians burn flares and smoke grenades during a rally with the slogan 'No to capitulation!' near President Volodymyr Zelensky's home in Kiev, Ukraine, 14 August 2021 prior to his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 22 August in Kiev and President Zelensky visit to the US at the end of August. Activists of different Nationalist movements gathered to remind Ukrainian authorities about the unacceptability of implementation the so-called 'Steinmeier formula' for a peace settlement in Donbas and delivery of water to the Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014. (Photo: EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/FaagBO_6IQb4L7BamsNPhWCniA8=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Oped-Clifford-RussiaCyberWars-MB_2.jpg) *Ukrainians burn flares and smoke grenades during a rally with the slogan ‘No to capitulation!’ near President Volodymyr Zelensky’s home in Kiev on 14 August 2021, before his meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 22 August and his visit to the US at the end of August. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Sergey Dolzhenko)* These are not side-effects of Russia’s war. Russia’s actions are repeated and well-documented violations of international law, carried out at scale, in an attempt to bend the will of the Ukrainian people. Behind every case is a human story: a parent waiting for a child, a spouse waiting for a phone call, a family waiting for someone to come home. We know that the true measure of peace is found in these human-centred stories. It is found in a child returned to their family, a civilian released from unlawful detention, a prisoner of war reunited with loved ones, and a community given the chance to heal and rebuild. ### Immense task The scope of this issue is immense, and no country or organisation can address it alone. Success requires sustained cooperation among governments, international organisations, humanitarian actors and civil society. This is why Canada, Norway and Ukraine will convene foreign ministers and international partners in Toronto on 28 and 29 September for Pathways to Peace: Second International Conference on Returning Ukrainian Children, Detained Civilians and Prisoners of War. ![President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine speaks at the Ukrainian closing press conference at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine in Stansstad near Lucerne, Switzerland, on 16 June 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Allessandro Della Valle / Pool)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/FHgW4-59Rf9wliaTzZ43SnE0H5s=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/12303342.jpg) *Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the Summit on Peace in Ukraine in Stansstad near Lucerne, Switzerland, on 16 June 2024. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Allessandro Della Valle / Pool)* Building on the progress made at the ministerial conference on the same topic, hosted by our three countries in Canada in 2024, the conference will bring international partners together to support Ukraine’s efforts to return, rehabilitate and reintegrate Ukrainian deported children, detained civilians and prisoners of war. Their return is a humanitarian imperative and critical to any peace process, helping to build trust and lay the groundwork of a just, lasting and dignified peace. Every person returned reunites a family. Every family reunited strengthens a community. And every community prospering helps to rebuild Ukraine. Each morning, millions of Ukrainians pause to remember those who are gone and those who have yet to return. In their remembrance and with extraordinary courage and ingenuity, they also repair what Russia has damaged, care for one another and strengthen the communities that Russian aggression has sought to tear apart. It is our hope that Pathways to Peace will mobilise the international community not only to pause with Ukraine in remembrance, but to act alongside it to help bring home every deported child, detained civilian and prisoner of war. **DM** *HE James Christoff is the high commissioner for Canada in South Africa. HE Anne Beathe Kristiansen is the ambassador of Norway to South Africa. HE Scherba Olexander is the ambassador of Ukraine to South Africa.*