What is Australia doing to help Ukraine orphans?

Despite the Prime Minister saying that Ukraine refugees are at the front of the queue, and our helping 4500 Ukrainians to come here (600 having arrived so far) there are 100,000 orphans in Ukraine, with children’s homes being hit by cluster bombs and babies sleeping six to a cot. Only 2,500 have been moved out so far. As 12-year-old Sasha has said:

“I worry Putin will fire a nuclear bomb – he will destroy the world.”

Australia must play its part to help these children, who are amongst the most vulnerable in the world, with half of whom are estimated to be disabled.

According to Wales Online:

“In Dnipro, Hope and Homes aide Daria, 40, explained how the horror unfolded there, saying: “When the first rockets fell it was a massive shock.

“We said, ‘Children, today your life changes. Rockets could fly in at any moment, soldiers could walk through the door’.

“We started to very quickly instruct them how we should go down to the basement during an air raid. We told them, ‘A war has begun, we must be nice to each other, we shouldn’t argue’.

“We told them make sure you finish every morsel because we don’t know when the next delivery of food will come. Even now we can’t tell them when they’ll next eat.

“On the third night, we heard bombs nearby. I walked into the dorm and said ‘Children, explosions’ and they quickly and orderly went to the basement.”

Unlike the UK, there have not been any planeloads of orphans arriving here. 52 Ukrainian orphans from Dnipro flew on a Virgin flight from Poland to London and have arrived in Scotland, where they will be safe.

I ask for the Australian Government to work with charities, and our international partners and do whatever it can to help save these children. There are people in Australia who are willing to give them good stable homes and help them be free, safe and loved. Anything we can do should be tried. These children deserve that at least.