Cabinet Simplifies Procedure For Crossing Border With Crimea For Children

The Cabinet of Ministers has simplified the procedure for crossing the border between Crimea and Kherson region for children aged 14-16, allowing them to cross the border on their own.

Prime Minister Oleksii Honcharuk stated his in his Telegram channel, where he announced the decisions that were adopted at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on Tuesday, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

“Everyone has the right to education! From now on, children aged 14 to 16 who are born in Crimea will be able to receive education in Ukraine,” Honcharuk wrote.

According to him, children studying in mainland Ukraine will be able to cross the border on their own if they present their internal Ukrainian passports (ID cards) or their international passports and if there is information about them in the Unified State Electronic Education Database, to which the State Border Service officials at border crossings will have access.

According to the Ministry of Veteran Affairs, Temporarily Occupied Territories, and Internally Displaced Persons, the Cabinet of Ministers has also simplified the procedure for crossing the border with Crimea for all children under the age of 16.

Now, they will be able to cross into Crimea accompanied by only one of their parents (this applies to those who left Crimea a day earlier and are returning to the peninsula).

Currently, they can enter Crimea only if they are accompanied by two parents or with the notarized consent of their second parent.

"This is especially important for children whose parents are illegally imprisoned or political prisoners. When one of the parents, usually the mother, wants to remove the child from the peninsula but cannot obtain permission from the child’s father, who is illegally deprived of liberty," Minister for Veterans Affairs Oksana Koliada said.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Cabinet of Ministers decided in November to allow children to cross the line of contact in Donbas on birth certificates and temporary certificates.