Girl born in Russian prison brought back to Uzbekistan

With the assistance of Uzbekistan’s Consulate General in Vladivostok and in cooperation with Russian law enforcement agencies, a one-year-old girl identified as S.M., who had been living at a family care support center in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), has been returned to Uzbekistan. This was reported by the Dunyo news agency.

According to the report, the child’s mother, an Uzbek citizen who had been working in the Sakha Republic, committed a criminal offense and was held criminally liable. She was sentenced by a city court in Yakutia to nine years in prison for involvement in the illegal trafficking of large quantities of narcotic substances. Her daughter was born while she was in detention and was later placed in a state family care support center.

The imprisoned woman’s mother traveled to the Sakha Republic to take custody of the child and appealed to Uzbekistan’s Consulate General in Vladivostok for assistance. The consulate contacted the Department of Guardianship and Trusteeship under the Yakutia regional administration of Russia’s Ministry for External Relations and Ethnic Affairs. Negotiations were held to transfer the child to her grandmother. Relevant documentation was prepared in accordance with international conventions on the protection of children’s rights.

Subsequently, the Consulate General issued a special certificate to facilitate the child’s return to Uzbekistan. With the support of Russian authorities, the girl was officially handed over to her grandmother in line with established procedures.

With assistance from members of the Uzbek diaspora in Yakutia, airline tickets were purchased for the grandmother and child on the Yakutia–Novosibirsk–Tashkent route, and they safely returned to Uzbekistan.

It is worth noting that earlier, citizens of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan who had fallen victim to human trafficking in Myanmar were repatriated with the assistance of diplomatic missions in Thailand.