RIGA, May 7 (LETA) - During a meeting of Saeima Citizenship, Migration and Social Cohesion Committee on Wednesday, several committee members said they were puzzled as to why there are about 2,000 more school-age Ukrainian children officially registered in Latvia than the number of Ukrainian children registered with the Latvian education system.

According to the Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs' data, there are 6,130 Ukrainian children aged five to 17 registered in Latvia, while only 3,991 Ukrainian children of this age are registered in the Latvian education system. Several MPs said they were confused as to where the children not going to school actually were.

Raimonds Bergmanis (United List) asked rhetorically whether it was even possible to obtain correct data on people in Latvia. He asked whether Latvia, by not being able to keep record of its population, wanted to end up in a situation like Sweden, which has allegedly declared that it is unable to deal with criminal gangs. "Do we want to clean up the system?" asked the MP.

The Education and Science Ministry's Deputy State Secretary Kristine Niedre-Lathere said that school attendance was not compulsory. "Therefore we cannot register children in the school system if they do not receive this service," said Niedre-Lathere.

She, however, declined to say who was responsible for Ukrainian children of school age registered in Latvia but not in the Latvian school system.

On the other hand, the Culture Ministry's Parliamentary Secretary Signe Grube emphasized that any Ukrainian civilian who arrived in Latvia was registered in the relevant information systems needed to support Ukrainian civilians in Latvia, and this was a responsibility of local governments.

Saeima Citizenship, Migration and Social Cohesion Committee agreed on Wednesday to turn to several institutions and ministries concerning the stay of Ukrainian civilians in Latvia, specifically regarding the technical condition of automobiles with Ukrainian license plates in Latvia and the number of Ukrainian civilians employed in Latvia.

The committee nevertheless did not reach agreement on where to seek information on the more than 2,000 Ukrainian children not attending school in Latvia, but emphasized the importance of this issue.

According to a plan to support Ukrainians in Latvia that the government supported last year, more than 32,000 Ukrainian nationals are registered in Latvia and receive assistance from local authorities, while more than 69,000 Ukrainians have been issued temporary residence permits and long-term visas since February 24, 2022.