Many people with disabilities are locked or abandoned in their homes, care centres, and orphanages without essential supplies or medicines in Ukraine, a United Nations commission shared its concern on Friday.
‘The Committee is gravely concerned that the fate of disabled individuals in Ukraine remains largely unknown,’ it said in a statement addressed to journalists. ‘People with disabilities have limited or no access to emergency information, shelters, and safe havens,’ the report added, ‘and many have been isolated from their support networks, leaving them unable to respond to the crisis and manage their surroundings.’
The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a group of specialists that oversee the implementation of a 2006 treaty. According to a United Nations website, Russia is one of the countries that has signed and ratified the treaty.
Russia has denied targeting civilians in Ukraine on several occasions.
The Committee did not specify how it received the reports on the trapped individuals. It did observe, however, that few persons with disabilities were among those internally displaced or who had crossed Ukraine’s borders as refugees, ‘implying that many of them have been unable to evacuate to safety.’
Post Your Comments