Funding cuts for a program tracking thousands of Ukrainian children allegedly abducted to Russia has alarmed U.S. lawmakers. A letter from over 15 lawmakers to Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlights fears that crucial data may be lost, jeopardizing Ukraine's ability to recover these children. Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab, which handled this data, acknowledged the discontinuation of funding for their work. While lawmakers emphasize the importance of this data in negotiations, a State Department official claims the information exists and remains intact, countering the fears of its deletion.
This data is absolutely crucial to Ukraine's efforts to return their children home. The foreign aid freeze has jeopardized, and may ultimately eliminate, our informational support of Ukraine on this front.
The data is really important because in order to get the kids back, folks at the negotiating table have to be able to say, 'We know where these children are.' So without this data, there's real concern that we might not be able to get all of these children back.
We know who is running the data and we know fully that the data exists and it's not been deleted and it's not missing.
While we are not in a position to comment on the State Department's decision, we do recognize the importance of HRL's work and its contributions to international efforts to protect vulnerable populations, including Ukrainian children.
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