Ensuring the Rights of Ukrainian War Refugee Children in Lithuania: Challenges and Opportunities

War refugee children are a particularly vulnerable group of children, and their rights and inclusion in the education system must be given special attention. As the war in Ukraine continues, minor war refugees from Ukraine, as well as from other countries, continue to arrive on the territory of the Republic of Lithuania. The inclusion of these children remains a topical issue. It is important to assess the challenges and opportunities for ensuring the rights and inclusion of war refugee children in the Lithuanian education system in order to fully ensure the right of every learner, including vulnerable children, to inclusive and equitable educational opportunities.

The qualitative study aimed to explore how the rights of Ukrainian war refugee children are guaranteed in the context of their inclusion in the education system. The participants were pupils in upper grades who arrived in Lithuania from Ukraine after the outbreak of hostilities and teachers who work with Ukrainian war refugee children.

The study found that the rights of Ukrainian war refugee children are not sufficiently guaranteed in Lithuania. Children experience discrimination, especially from older people, because of their arrival in Lithuania and their lack of knowledge of the Lithuanian language. The living conditions of the children do not provide them with sufficient privacy and space. Although the learning conditions are sufficient, the learning process is complicated by the emotional trauma each of them has experienced, the anxiety about the course of the war, and the relatives left behind. Some children have difficulties to continue in Lithuania the non-formal education activities they started in Ukraine. Once they arrive, the children become independent very quickly, which affects the importance of their opinion in the family.