When conflict shatters families: the hidden crisis of child separation and exploitation

Conflict doesn’t just destroy buildings and infrastructure—it tears apart families, displaces communities, and leaves children frighteningly vulnerable to exploitation. In places like Haiti, Palestine, and Ukraine, where political instability and war have upended daily life, a devastating pattern is emerging: children separated from their families at alarming rates, and traffickers are just waiting take advantage.

This is the hidden crisis beneath the headlines—and it’s one we can’t afford to ignore.

Whenever conflict strikes, families are the first casualties, and children are at the center of the suffering. Children can become separated from their families in the chaos of war.  Children in orphanages, already without the protection of family, can become further separated as they are removed to other locations, paperwork and any other trace that might lead them back to family lost.   Aid organizations often sweep in, seeing children alone, and pull children into orphanages in an effort to provide care without knowing the harm of institutionalizing children.

Once separated, children become incredibly vulnerable to all forms of exploitation: trafficking, forced labor, early marriage, and illegal adoption. Some end up in orphanages that are not only poorly regulated, but in many cases, profit-driven—part of a growing crisis known as orphanage trafficking.

These children are not orphans, and even those who may be probably still have family who could care for them.  All children need the love, protection and care of family. These children are victims of conflict and systems that fail to protect families.

What’s Happening in Haiti, Palestine, and Ukraine

• Haiti is in a humanitarian freefall. Armed gangs now control large swaths of the country, driving thousands from their homes. Families are fragmented by violence and desperation, and children are increasingly recruited by gangs or placed in orphanages—many of which are unlicensed and exploitative. In fact, 80% of children in Haitian orphanages have living parents, but poverty and instability push families toward separation.
• Palestine, particularly in Gaza, has seen generations of children displaced and orphaned by war. The current escalation has left thousands of children separated from caregivers or living in overcrowded shelters with no safe supervision. Trafficking risks spike when formal child protection systems collapse under the weight of bombardment and humanitarian blockades.
• Ukraine, more than two years into a brutal war, has seen over 16,000 children forcibly deported or separated, according to international observers. There are unofficial reports that this number could be as high as 200,000, and to date, only 1,300 Ukrainian children have been returned to Ukraine.  Thousands more live in displacement camps or institutions. As the war drags on, these children are at risk of being trafficked across borders, especially as systems struggle to track their movement and reunite families.  There are reports that many of these children already have been 'reprogrammed' and adopted into Russian families.  They may never be reunited with their biological families.  They have lost their families, their culture, and their country - all rights enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

What Can We Do?

1. Prioritize Family-Based Care: Orphanages should be a last resort. Organizations and governments must invest in keeping children with safe family members or placing them in family-style foster care. The data is clear—children thrive in families, not institutions.
2. Support Reunification Efforts: International aid must include robust systems to identify, trace, and reunite children with their families after separation. It’s not enough to provide food and shelter—children need connection and care.
3. Fund Local Child Protection: Grassroots organizations and local social workers are often the first to respond and the most trusted by communities. Supporting them is one of the fastest ways to protect children from traffickers.
4. Advocate for Policy Reform: We must pressure governments and international agencies to uphold protections against child trafficking and end the pipeline of funding that enables orphanage tourism and exploitative child migration practices.  We know that conflict leads to the separation of children from families - we must be prepared to respond swiftly to reunite children and families as soon as safely possible, without resorting to institutionalization.
5. Stay Informed and Speak Out: Silence sustains the status quo. Share stories, support ethical aid organizations, and refuse to look away.

Conflict may seem inevitable, but the separation and exploitation of children is not. It is a choice we make—by what we fund, what we ignore, and how we respond.

At Helping Children Worldwide and through partnerships across the globe, we are working to strengthen families, protect children, and support the local systems that make reunification and healing possible. But we can’t do it alone.  Together, we can make sure that even in the chaos of war, children are not forgotten—and families are not broken beyond repair.