Ten individuals and 17 organisations have been added to the EU sanctions list over the deportation, forced transfer and assimilation of Ukrainian children, including a state-run camp in North Korea.

The European Union has imposed sanctions on another 10 individuals and 17 organisations accused of involvement in the unlawful deportation, forced transfer and assimilation of Ukrainian children from Russian-occupied territories.

The measures adopted by the Council on Monday extend sanctions to Russian officials, children’s camps, education institutions and organisations involved in programmes that Brussels says are intended to integrate Ukrainian children into Russian cultural and political structures.

Among the organisations listed is the Songdowon International Children’s Camp in North Korea, a state-operated institution which the Council says has taken part in organised programmes involving children transferred from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

According to the Council, the camp participated in transfers coordinated with the Russian Federation and programmes aimed at promoting pro-Russian narratives among the children.

The inclusion of a North Korean institution broadens the geographical scope of EU measures addressing the removal of Ukrainian children beyond Russia and the territories it occupies.

Other organisations placed under sanctions include children’s camps and sports centres in Russia and occupied Ukraine.

The Council says these facilities have been involved in cultural reorientation, propaganda-based education and military-patriotic activities designed to incorporate Ukrainian children into Russian identity frameworks.

The sanctions also cover the Moscow City Tourism Committee and two Russian companies operating in the children’s recreation, tourism and entertainment sectors.

Individuals listed on Monday include Rustam Minnikhanov, head of Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan, whom the Council accuses of facilitating the transfer of Ukrainian children to camps in the region.

Education officials operating in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, a sports and tourism official in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and managers of camps and schools were also included.

Those sanctioned face an EU-wide asset freeze. European individuals and companies are prohibited from making funds or economic resources available to them, while listed individuals are barred from entering or transiting through EU territory.

The latest decision follows an earlier round of sanctions in May. At that time, EU Today reported on the designation of 16 people and seven organisations accused of involvement in the transfer and indoctrination of Ukrainian children.

Monday’s measures substantially expand that group.

The Council estimates that more than 20,500 Ukrainian children have been deported or forcibly transferred since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Ukraine says the true number could be considerably higher because many children remain difficult to trace in occupied territories or inside Russia.

The legal status of the transfers has become an important element of international investigations into the conduct of the war.

In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, alleging responsibility for the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied Ukrainian territory to Russia.

Moscow rejects the accusation that the transfers constitute deportations, maintaining that children were moved from conflict zones for their protection.

Ukraine and its international partners dispute that account, pointing to cases in which children have been placed with Russian families, subjected to Russian citizenship procedures or enrolled in programmes promoting Russian national identity.

The EU measures concentrate not simply on the physical transfer of children, but also on what the Council describes as forced assimilation, indoctrination and militarised education.

That distinction explains why camps, schools, tourism organisations and education officials appear alongside political office-holders in the sanctions list.

EU Today’s earlier coverage of the sanctions process noted that Brussels had increasingly moved the issue from the humanitarian sphere into the Union’s broader sanctions architecture.

The approach gives the EU a mechanism for targeting officials and institutions operating different parts of the transfer system even where they are not directly involved in military operations.

The latest listings also demonstrate the international dimension of the programme.

The Songdowon camp was already sanctioned by the United Kingdom in May over what London described as support for Russia’s programme involving the deportation and re-education of Ukrainian children. Its addition to the EU list means restrictions on the institution now extend across the Union.

The legal acts implementing Monday’s decision have been published in the EU’s Official Journal and take effect under the Union’s existing sanctions regime covering actions undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.

At the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, thousands of complaints have been lodged by immigrant detainees regarding dangerous living conditions: abuse, inedible food, prolonged isolation, and medical neglect.

Despite more than 3,500 complaints being submitted to the Washington State Department of Health, GEO Group, operating the facility under a contract with ICE, has repeatedly refused to admit state inspectors.

Opened in 2004, the facility formerly known as the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) has a stated bed space capacity of 1,575 people – one of the largest immigration prisons in the country. Its population hovered around 800 for a couple years before rising sharply after Trump’s second term began, with immigrant rights groups estimating that 1,400-1,500 people were detained there in March.

Food budgeted at 97 cents per meal

Food, water and air quality account for more than 990 of these complaints. Detainees report finding burned plastic, metal string, rope, wood splinters and even worms in their meals. In one case, raw meat was served to a unit of 54 people. Some were so hungry they ate the food anyways – causing 15 of them to become sick. 

Other complaints describe drinking water as “foul” and that air coming from the vents smells like sewage. One detainee told immigrant rights group La Resistencia that food served at the NWIPC contained rat feces. 

The evidence of the poor quality of food and water is not limited to detainee complaints. During an unannounced inspection in 2022, the Department of Homeland Security found long-expired food and boxes of meat left open and exposed to the air. 

In May 2025, detainees reported stomach pain, bloating, and bloody diarrhea after eating collard greens served at the facility. The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department later detected Bacillus cereus, a bacterium associated with food poisoning, in the supply of collard greens. 

A former GEO kitchen supervisor testified that the company budgeted only 97 cents per detainee per meal, and admitted that GEO could not provide adequate meals within that budget. In 2024, GEO reported more than $1.6 billion in revenue for its secure service facility operations in the US. 

The facility’s problems extend beyond food. More than 650 complaints concern unsanitary living conditions, including black mold in showers, rarely cleaned bathrooms and dirty floors. At one point, approximately 100 people reportedly had access to only 2 working bathrooms. 

Detainees also report receiving wet or dirty laundry, underwear previously worn by others, and bedding that had not been changed or cleaned after being used by people infected with COVID-19 and chickenpox.

Medical neglect accounts for more than 900 additional complaints. Detainees report untreated strokes, paralysis, internal bleeding, heart conditions and asthma. In one case, a man returned from a hospital with prescribed medication, but facility staff withheld it and gave him ibuprofen while his condition continued to deteriorate. 

The complaints also contain allegations of physical and sexual abuse by officers. 

Deaths and prolonged isolation

Reports also include one death by suicide, several suicide attempts, and extreme isolation. 

Mergensana Amar, a 40-year-old asylum seeker, committed suicide in November 2018 after nearly 11 months in the NWIPC.

Charles Leo Daniel was found dead in March 2024 after spending over 3 years combined in solitary confinement over 2 separate periods in 2020 and 2023.

University of Washington researchers also obtained 911 records documenting at least 6 suicide attempts at the facility between January 1 and March 18, 2024.

The UN’s Nelson Mandela Rules define any solitary confinement lasting longer than 15 consecutive days as “prolonged solitary confinement,” which is prohibited. UN human rights experts have warned that prolonged solitary confinement may constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment – and can amount to torture. Charles Leo Daniel spent a combined 1,244 days in solitary confinement.

GEO repeatedly blocks state inspections

Despite thousands of complaints and mounting evidence, GEO has kept these conditions hidden from the public – the company has repeatedly blocked attempts by the state to examine conditions inside the facility. 

Washington health inspectors were denied entry 10 times, including twice after a federal appeals court affirmed the state’s authority to inspect private detention centers. 

Finally, on July 9, 2026, a federal judge intervened, ordering GEO to admit state inspectors into most of the facility, on the basis that complaints had raised “compelling concerns” for the health and safety of detainees. 

But federal findings extended beyond health and hygiene concerns, revealing that GEO also relied on detained workers to perform the labor necessary to operate the NWIPC, paying them as little as 1 dollar per day. 

A federal jury found that GEO had violated Washington’s minimum-wage law, and the company was ordered to pay $17.3 million to more than 10,000 formerly detained workers.

Organizing to shut down the NWDC

Immigrant rights groups have been organizing to shut down the NWIPC for over a decade. La Resistencia recently joined with Tsuru for Solidarity outside the NWIPC to host a Solidarity Day on August 15, demanding the facility’s closure. 

La Resistencia was founded in 2014, after more than 1,200 detainees launched a hunger strike against their confinement and living conditions. Led by undocumented immigrants, La Resistencia has supported hundreds of hunger strikes and protests organized by detainees in the facility – including holding daily vigils in solidarity with a recent hunger strike. 

As organizing continues inside and outside the detention center, these groups are calling on the community to join the fight to shut down the NWIPC and end the deportation flights from King County International Airport. 

Sofie Villa is a Seattle-based Filipina artist and organizer with the Party for Socialism & Liberation and a social media content creator under the handle @darlingube.