ROMANIANS CAN TAKE CARE OF THEIR OWN

From Agenda Zilei Friday, Jan. 27, 2006

Author: Daniela Baranga

ROMANIANS CAN TAKE CARE OF THEIR OWN

President Traian Basescu stated yesterday that the current progress with regard to Romania's children confirms the correctness of his attitude regarding the necessity of stopping international adoptions, an attitude he expressed while PSD was in power. He asserted that he was correct in launching a campaign for stopping the adoption of children born in Romania.

Basescu affirmed with regard to a meeting yesterday at Cotroceni Palace in which children from the program "Children for Romania-Open Horizons" participated, that, "I saw how involved these children were for other children." Baroness Emma Nicholson, co-president of the "High Level Group for Romania's Children", writer J.K. Rowling author of the Harry Potter Series also participated.

The President added that Romanians have demonstrated, after the stopping of international adoptions, that they are "A people who can take care of their own children." Basescu thanked Baroness Emma Nicholson for the fact that she had fought for the closure of the orphanages, which "generate people without warmth".

THOUSANDS OF ROMANIAN CHILDREN BEGGING IN FRANCE

From Jurnalul National Friday, January 27, 2006

Author: Ana Ilie

THOUSANDS OF ROMANIAN CHILDREN BEGGING IN FRANCE

Thousands of children who have fled from poverty, or are victims of human trafficking, or are simply forced by their parents to beg, have covered western European states. According to U.N. statistics, the number of these children are more than 50,000. The number is not known precisely because the children are sometimes transported from one country to another by clandestine child traffickers.

It seems that the situation in France is very serious according to estimates made by the inspector general for social problems. He said that more than 5,000 minors enter French territory every year. In first place are those from Romania, followed by Chinese, Moroccans, Albanians and Congolese.

According to the report of the inspector general, the phenomenon of illegal children who beg on the streets of France began in the early 90's and has been an on going problem since.

In only one area of France, Bouches-du-Rhone, "It is estimated that between 200 and 300 foreign children arrive every year. In addition to these, there are another 80 to 90 Gypsy children accompanied by their parents who come to this area from Romania."

Children Abused in the Orphanage at Priboieni, Arges County

From www.averea.ro

Children Abused in the Orphanage at Priboieni, Arges County

The former Social Democratic (PSD) Senator, Constantin Nicolescu, who is now the current president of the county council for Arges County, is accused of protecting the directors of certain orphanages, which are really prisons, where children are sexually abused and forced to work. The "People's Advocate" declared, following the investigation of the orphanage at Priboieni, Arges County, that those responsible for this orphanage trampled on the rights of the children in the institution and this was tolerated by their superiors.

On the other hand, officials from the National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of the Child and Adoption, told us that they had asked for disciplinary measures to be taken against the directors of the orphanage. But the president of the county council, Social Democrat Constantin Nicolescu, supported the directors. According to statements by Nicolescu, "In none of these investigations was there found any instances of abuse, including in the report by the National Authority of the Protection of the Rights of the Child." In spite of these affirmations, Bogdan Panait, head of the National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of the Child maintains, "We have asked Mr. Nicolescu to take disciplinary measures against the director of the Child Protection Services for Arges, Adrian Macovei. Mr. Nicolescu is the only one who is able to take this measure. I have asked him to analyze the managerial capabilities of Mr. Macovei.

"But nothing was done. Consequently, Mr. Panait asked for another review of the case because the county authorities were moving very slowly in this situation. "Last December, I asked that these measures be taken. Because nothing was done I again asked, at the start of this year, for these measures to be taken. As far as I know, this problem was discussed by the local authorities on Wednesday of last week. But I have heard no information on the matter." The head of the Quality Control of the National Authority for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, Nicoleta Curelaru, affirmed, "We have asked the Arges county council to begin an investigation. We have heard that there will be charges filed against Macovei."

The infernal conditions at Priboieni came to light after a group of 20 children, out of the 70 who were institutionalized in this orphanage, demonstrated that they were victims of incredible abuses. They accused their teachers, supervisors and those responsible for the orphanage, that they were forced to work, that they were beaten when they did not carry out orders, and that at least one case of rape was swept under the carpet. The children maintained that they were forced to work at the homes of their teachers and others in cleaning, working in the fields, and harvesting the crops.

The "People's Advocate" confirmed that this institution was like a labor prison. According to authorized sources, there were also many instances of abortions in this orphanage. The "People's Advocate" confirmed that many of the accusations were, in fact, true. Camelia Golescu, the person responsible for the rights of the children from the People's Advocate office, confirmed to us that the problems at Priboieni have been going on for a long time.

Camelia Golescu declared, "The People's Advocate has asked those responsible for this institution to explain the situation at the orphanage. The accusations are extremely serious. I have heard that some measures, like changing the director of the orphanage, have been taken. I heard that Adrian Macovei was to receive professional sanctions against him because he tolerated the problems at the orphanage. There are also other accusations regarding the activities in other orphanages in this county."

A RIDICULOUS SANCTION: 5% OF HIS SALARY
Asked whether he had received any sanctions against him, Adrian Macovei, the director of the Child Protection Services for Arges County, defended himself saying, "The problem of sanctions against me has not been raised." He refused to give any further details regarding the situation at Priboieni. "Things are not as they have been presented. On the 16th of January, a new interim director was named at the orphanage in Priboieni. The previous director, Ion Preoteasa, was fired and was given an executive function with a 5% reduction in salary. I don't have anything else to say."

The new director at Priboieni, is Alexandru Preda. He contradicted his boss from the Child Protection Services. Preda said, "There was a little disorder here. There was a defective circulation of documents. There was no registration of the comings and goings of the documents and it is not known what happened with each one. I don't know if any charges were filed against people who headed this orphanage." Preda maintained that the former directors of the institution were not interested in the program of the students and never sanctioned the students even when they merited it. He did say that the legal responsibilities were ignored by the former directors.

PREDA: "WE ARE RAISING CRIMINALS"
The current director of the orphanage, Alexandru Preda, maintains that it is inadmissible that the young people from the orphanage weren't educated according to a rigorous program, but were rather left to do whatever they wanted without any verification as to whether they went to school or not.

Preda told us, "These children, from 16 to 20 years of age, didn't go to school and no one was concerned. It seems that these children had the impression that they had many rights but no responsibilities. Regulations 21 and 41 of the National Authority for the Protection of the Child's Rights provides sanctions against children who don't go to their classes. But nobody applied these and we've raised a bunch of delinquents. I have told this to the county prosecutor. We have to explain to people that we must respect the law, no matter whether it is a matter of those responsible for this institution or the children who are in it.

"LIVE ON THE SEX CHAT LINE"
In one month, the young people from the orphanage in Priboieni ran up a $500.00 bill to sex chat lines. Preda said, "The young people stole the phone and hid themselves in a room from which they called the sex chat line. We'll have to recoup the money by taking it out of the salaries of the workers here." In spite of these vehement declarations from Mr. Preda, nothing was done as far as the accusations regarding the stealing of food by the workers, the stealing of school supplies bythe workers, and the thievery of material goods sent from the West. Preda agreed that there were problems like these because of the inexistence of a registry of goods which came in to the institution.

Another problem he mentioned is that the children are wetting their beds because they seem to suffer from major affective disorders which haven't been addressed. For as often as bedding and clothing has to be changed in this institution, it's a wonder that no one tried to deal with the problem.

There are currently 68 children registered as being in the institution. However, yesterday when we were there, there were only 42 present. The rest were not to be found. The leaders of the institution said they were "at home with their parents". However we are convinced that their presence "at home" is highly unlikely since these young people are usually found wandering around on the streets, in the train stations, and even on the trains.

Taubman fails to change Tariceanu's mind on adoption laws

From Bucharest Daily News 1/20/06
Taubman fails to change Tariceanu's mind on adoption laws

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu declared yesterday that his recent meeting with American Ambassador in Bucharest, Nicholas Taubman, has not influenced his opinion on international adoptions. "I told the American Ambassador that the country's current laws should not create hopes for foreign families who want to adopt children, but, on the contrary, the laws are restrictive and meant to encourage national adoptions," the PM said. Taubman and Tariceanu met on Monday at the government headquarters to discuss the relationship between the two countries, possible American investment in Romania and the situation on international adoptions. The PM declared he had promised Ambassador Taubman transparency over the results of analysis of pending adoption cases.

PM and U.S. Ambassador Tackle Adoption Issue

From the Bucharest Daily News. I still believe there is hope for all the adoption cases to be approved and move forward. Once Romania gets into the EU, American bases become a reality, and the spotlight is off them. I am betting they will let the adoptions proceed. The question is - How many children will be permanently harmed before all this happens????

PM and U.S. Ambassador tackle adoption issue
Denisa Maruntoiu

Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu met with the U.S. Ambassador to Bucharest Nicholas Taubman yesterday at the government' palace in order to tackle several important issues related to the bilateral relations between Romania and the U.S.

According to the government's press release, Tariceanu and Taubamn held talks about several U.S. investment projects in Romania, but also about the issue of the ban on international adoptions.

Tariceanu said that the Romanian Office for Adoptions is carefuly analyzing each adoption case in accordance with the new law on international adoptions and that it will send the reports to each foreign family that had issued an adoption request. At the begining of December 2005 the government rejected all the international adoption requests.

The authorities decided not to approve the 1,100 international adoption requests Romania has received in the past four years, the head of the Romanian Office for Adoptions (ORA) Theodora Bertzi said.

According to Bertzi, the authorities' decision not to allow the adoptions was made at the end of November when the ORA completed the evaluation of all the requests, which had come from 24 different countries including the U.S., Spain, Germany, and Greece during October 2001 to December 2003.

SUCCESS STORY IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHILD

Amazing how Mrs. Nicholson's visit so nicely corresponded with that of Robert Wexler--what a coincidence!

Article translated from Agenda Zilei Newspaper, Saturday January 14, 2006

SUCCESS STORY IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHILD
by Daniela Baranga
Baroness Emma Nicholson praised the progresses of Romania

Romania has become a success story in the area of the protection of the rights of the child, while the results obtained should transform her into a model for other countries. This was the conclusion of the discussions from yesterday, at the Victoria Palace, between Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu and Baroness Emma Nicholson. During the discussions between the former raporteur for Romania and the Prime Minister, they tackled the problems that still need to be resolved in the area of the protection of children, including financial ones and the necessary personnel for the child protection system. At the same time, the important steps taken by Romania in recent years were examined, after the Baroness Emma Nicholson herself launched extremely painful criticisms at what had happened in our country. "Assuring the protection and the rights of the child constitute a fundamental preoccupation of the Romanian authorities", declared Prime Minister Tariceanu, who also expressed his availability to support projects in this area.

Article on Wexler

From Rompress Jan. 10, 2006, posted at www.idilis.ro

Congressman Robert Wexler in Bucharest to Plead the Cause of International Adoptions

Robert Wexler, an American Congressman, declared Tuesday at a round table discussion held at the U.S. embassy in Bucharest, that, "International adoptions should not be arbitrarily forbidden, but should represent an option for abandoned children in Romania, in certain cases which have been minutely investigated." He was in Bucharest to plead with the Romanian authorities regarding the requests for adoption which were made prior to the implementation of law 273/2004 which forbids international adoptions. As a representative from the state of Florida, Wexler brought to the attention of the Romanian authorities the case of the Springer family who adopted a little girl from Romania and who want to adopt her twin sisters as well.

The Springer case was publicized by the mass media in America because of the entangled feelings which accompany this unusual case. The little girl has two dolls which she has named after her two sisters in Romania. Her one wish is that they would be with her, which is also the express request of her biological mother. Not only that, the American family has paid for the biological father of these twins to make several trips from Italy to Bucharest in order to testify in favor of the adoption of the twins. The American Congressman asked, "The little girl wants to be together with her sisters. The adoptive parents desire the same thing. And both biological parents have expressed this as well. Who and why are these children being denied their right to a loving family?"

He emphasized that the decisions in these kinds of cases should not be made by politicians, but rather by those who follow what is in the best interests of the child. Robert Wexler affirmed that, although Romania has made progress with regard to the way abandoned children were treated in the early 90's, the country still has a problem with regards to the large number of abandoned children. The American official maintained that the statistics presented by the Romanian authorities -- only several hundred adoptable children -- do not reflect the reality of the situation. According to the statistics from the United Nations organization the number of children abandoned in Romania remains at approximately the same level as it was 15 years ago, said Wexler. The democratic Congressman further affirmed, "These several hundred children are those who have been legally defined as adoptable, but it does not mean that the rest of the abandoned or institutionalized children have disappeared via a miracle."

Wexler stated that Washington understands the apprehensions of Bucharest, keeping in mind the situation from the early 90's. "But", he added, "the dramatic situation of these children without families should not be transformed into a political issue, nor an issue of the relationship between the U.S., Romania and the E. U. -- and so much the more since the forbidding of international adoptions is not a condition imposed by Brussels for Romania's entry into the E.U."

STEPHANIE WANTS HER SISTERS BACK

FYI - the child's name is Gabriella and not Stephanie.

from website www.eafacere.ro published on Jan. 11, 2006 and taken from Averea Newspaper of Jan. 11, 2006
Author: Daniela Serb

STEPHANIE WANTS HER SISTERS BACKAn American congressman, Robert Wexler, came to Romania yesterday to convince the Romanian authorities to unblock the adoptions of over 200 children which were blocked as a result of the institution of a complete moratorium in 2004, concerning international adoptions. Romanian authorities have repeatedly announced that not one of these over 1,100 Romanian children whose international adoptions were requested will be adopted abroad.

The Congressman came to help Stephanie, an 8 year old girl, to recover her twin sisters, Madalina and Manuela. Stephanie is a Romanian girl whose parents gave her up for adoption in 1998 to a family from the U.S. Madalina and Manuela are 4 years old and for the last 3 years they have been raised by a maternal assistant whom they call 'mamma'. Their birth family was not able to support them financially because there are another 5 children who need to be cared for. Beyond this, neither parent has a job and they are separated and they are each living with their respective parents. A source close to the family declared, "These 5 children are in a village and are in the care of their mother's mother. They live off of welfare, but they are good children. The oldest boy is 15 and is good at school, but he doesn't have anyone to help him any further. It's a typical case of the failure of the local authorities to get involved with these kind of problems."

Thus the family gave their consent that Madalina and Manuela should be adopted. The twins became 'adoptable' on the 26th of November and the 4th of December 2003 respectively. On the 13th of January, 2004, Stephanie's adoptive parents, Karen and Richard Springer, solicited to adopt the twins, the little sisters of their adopted daughter. One month later, on the 6th of February, 2004, an emergency ordinance entered into force which declared that international adoptions were blocked totally. One year later, on the first of January, 2005, a new law, Law 272/2004 entered into force. According to this law, all the requests for international adoption needed to be re-evaluated and these Romanian children would not be able to be adopted by foreign families. The fate of the twins was no exception. After re-evaluating the case, the twin's were declared to be no longer adoptable and remained in the care of the maternal assistant. Now the biological parents have changed their minds and don't want the twins adopted, waiting for God or the local authorities to be merciful and help them with something.

The Springers, however, who have a law firm in the U.S., did not give up and insisted that their suspended case for adoption be resolved. They sought help from the American Congressman, Robert Wexler. Wexler declared, "We have arrived at the point where Romania, if she desires, could permit international adoptions in appropriate cases. This decision should not be a political one, but one that best serves the interest of the child." Robert Wexler is pleading for the resolving of this case and says that it is a "unique situation" in which he has become involved. According to mediafax, he maintains that Romania should permit the uniting of these three sisters for humanitarian reasons and that these three girls really want this thing.

However, the Romanian office for adoptions will not allow one iota of hope. The Romanian adoption office maintains that no one is able to adopt children who have not been judicially declared adoptable. Theodora Bertzi, head of the Romanian adoption office, declared, "We have responded to the Springer's request and explained to them the current situation regarding the twins. They are no longer adoptable. And even if they would be adoptable, the maternal assistant would have priority to adopt them because she raised them and she is attached to them."

According to the Romanian law, a child can be declared adoptable only if he cannot be integrated in the extended family which means relatives to the 4th degree. Even given this, international adoptions of Romanian children are not permitted at all, except by the child's grandparents who happen to live in another country. In other words, only grandparents are able to adopt their grandchildren internationally. Bertzi added that there are currently 1,533 requests by Romanians to adopt, but there are only 530 adoptable children. Bertzi specified that, "Seventy of these have now been adopted and another sixty have been in legal custody with a view to adoption. This period of legal custody lasts 3 months."

GABRIEL ESCAPED FROM A HORRIBLE SANITARIUM

While this story concerns Romania, this happens in many Eastern European countries and also in Russia. One finds it hard to believe we are now in the 21st century. Apart from God, man's heart is wicked and has no limits to the evil it can cause. The below sounds like a camp you would find the Nazi's running.

From Evenimentul Zilei newspaper, Tuesday, January 10, 2006

GABRIEL ESCAPED FROM A HORRIBLE SANITARIUM

He had been tied with handcuffs. When he would see soap he would eat it. If he refused to work, he would be locked in a cage. He slept with two or three others in a bed. He received only pig slop to eat. This is what happened until recently, with the sick ones in a center for psychiatric illness in Romania. Earthshaking testimonies and photographs recreate this gloomy picture of modern slavery. All of this happened at Urlati, at the center "Steaua" ("The Star"), there where a director for many years, made money at the expense of the sick ones. On this sinister background, in1995, eight sick people lost their lives, intoxicated by gas from a defective heating stove. And for the picture to be complete, recently a child was discovered at Urlati who grew up for a period of five years among crazy people, without the institution that should have been responsible for his fate, knowing this thing. This is a case without precedent in Romania.

The center for neurological recuperation and rehabilitation "Steaua" is situated at the edge of the city Urlati (Prahova County), at the top of a hill, safe from indiscriminate view. Here, live 200 people with severe psychological handicaps, who were declared unable to live in society. Here also was, until recently, Gabriel's home, a little boy age 5. The boy was discovered two months ago when the Psychiatric Centers passed from the administration of The National Association for the Handicapped under the authority of the County commissioner. From January 1, 2006, The Child Protection Services in Prahova united with the neurological rehabilitation centers in the county under the leadership of director Gheorghe Curelea. Then began inspections which led to the finding of Gabriel and the dismissal of the director of the "Steaua" center, doctor Silviu Dontu.

I'VE NEVER SEEN A CHILD SO SAD IN ALL MY LIFE
"When I discovered the existence of Gabriel, it took my breath away", said Curelea. "I couldn't believe that something like this was possible. His mother, Liliana, is retarded and became pregnant while she was at the center "Steaua". The father is unknown. The child remained with his mother and was raised along with people with serious psychological problems. It is inconceivable that this happened." Curelea said that he was very moved by the state of this child. "I have never seen a child so sad in all my life. It is a deliberate crime for him to be kept so long in this way." The director said Gabriel has been visibly affected by the fact that he has stayed so long among mentally disabled people. "With all of this, he is as normal as possible. I can even say he has an above average intelligence."

BURSTING OUT IN TEARS
Gabriel is now in the care of a maternal assistant in the village of Magureni, 30 kilometers from Ploiesti. Viorica Cernica receives $160 a month to care for him. "Now it is better, but at the beginning he would cry constantly," she maintained. "Every morning he would burst into tears for no reason." The woman says about Gabriel that, since he's been with her, he feels much better and doesn't have the longing for his mother, with whom he didn't succeed in bonding very well. While he is speaking, the child plays with little cars. He avoids any contact with strangers. "Every time someone comes to visit," explains Gabriela, "he hides in fear that he will be taken from here."

LIFE LIKE IN A LABOR CAMP
Gheorghe Curelea says about the center "Steaua": "I found there a kind of extermination labor camp. I found things there beyond my imagination. People were held locked in a type of pen and it looked like a pigsty. A normal man would not be able to survive in that mess for even one week. I told Dontu that something like this isn't possible, that something must be done immediately. Every time Iwould go to the center to see what progress was made, I never found him there. When at last I found him, he told me he couldn't do anything because the employees don't listen to him. I told him then he must leave his job to someone more capable."

THEY WOULD EAT SOAP
The new director at the center, Marilena Gheorghe, also speaks about the grave situation in which she found "Steaua". "I've worked all my life in these types of centers," she said, "but I am shocked with what I have seen here. They were like animals. The first time when I gave them soap, they began to eat it because they never saw such a thing. The majority were undressed and slept two or three to a bed. The excuse that the former director used for the deplorable state of the center was a lack of money. I also know what it's like to not have the means, but every time I asked for something I was given the minimum necessary. Doctor Dontu, for example, didn't even ask for anything except one roll of toilet paper per person per month. In this situation, there isn't any way there could be anymore."

ALCOHOL AND FIRE
Marilena further said that she was shocked when she saw that in the storage room there were tons of clothes, but the patients were kept undressed in the cold. "But in regards to the food, the situation is indescribable. There were slops of food that not even a dog would touch." Marilena Gheorghe confirmed that Dontu kept his 'assisted ones' (the name used for sick ones at psychological centers), locked up permanently because he said they are unstable and dangerous. "Since I got them out of the pens where they were held, they are very peaceful. Not one of them has had even one manifestation of violence." Still, acts of violence did exist at the center. "When I came here I believe that I disturbed many of the people", says Marilena. "From what I can tell, the employees were much freer under the old leadership. Someone gave alcohol to the people so they would become violent. In the same week they set fire to three haystacks." The director of the center says that, now two weeks later, fire was set to a whole pavilion. "I was convinced that it was sabotage, but the firemen told me that it was because of the electric wiring. What can I do? I must believe them because they're specialists."

INSANE BOUND....WITH HANDCUFFS
The last commission that verified the situation at "Steaua" brought to light some earthshaking details. At "Steaua" there were rooms where in winter there were no glass in the windows. Broken windowpanes were covered with blankets. The sick were many to a bed, others had no mattresses and slept directly on the bare metal springs of the bed. The medications of those held in isolation were put in a common bucket and given with a mug through a hole in the door. The sickones were held weeks there. Meals were the same process. Some of the sick were held bound with metal handcuffs and were forced to work until they were exhausted.

Romania Needs To Kick Its Habits

Romania needs to kickits habits

By Cristian Lupsa

TIRGU-MURES, ROMANIA - If all political promises and hopes come true, Romania just tumbled into its last year as a post communist republic few people can accurately place on a world map. In 2007, Romania is supposed to join the European Union table.

Yet my visit to the motherland to ring in the New Year had little to do with Romanian politics. I came to see family for the second time since leaving more than two years ago for Washington. When I arrived after Christmas, I was convinced my Romania wouldn't still be the repository of orphans, vile wild dogs, or secret prisons that foreign media makes it out to be.

And I was right. It's not just that. But it's also not much more. Sure, there have been numerous laws put in place to meet EU standards - some better enforced than others. But at the point where politics or justice meets culture and the local way, tried and true customs prevail. This is what my Romanian friends (and sometimes my parents) - who work in both private and state-owned organizations - would call "only in Romania" moments. The phrase "only in Romania" describes any event or happening that stands askew in a system that otherwise looks reasonably functional from a distance.

Take New Year's Eve, for example. My friends and I rushed to the central square in downtown to watch the city-sponsored fireworks, only to flee 10 minutes before midnight because thousands of people were launching their own fireworks. There was a sad recklessness in the way people threw firecrackers at each other or tossed circles of fire that barely flew over children's heads. The media later reported that more than 10,000 people called medical emergency services on New Year's Eve - hundreds of these calls having something to do with injuries from fireworks.

Legally fireworks can only be sold between Christmas and New Year's Day. It is also against the law to use them in places where they can pose a threat to others. But "only in Romania" does the lack of responsibility and respect for others turn a night of celebration into a night of spontaneous bonfires, which the police do nothing to stop.

This is not just a street-level phenomenon. The medical system is another example of an establishment rife with "only in Romania" moments. Newspapers run accounts of nation-wide shake-ups, with crooked hospital managers being tossed out like spoiled food. But my father, a doctor, says that some managers continued to work as doctors in their old hospitals, forging alliances with newly minted managers and tutoring in abuse and corruption.

This health system is the same one that accuses doctors of taking gifts from patients while overlooking the fact that most physician's salaries are not much higher than those of garbage men, but way below people working in state-owned gas and electricity distribution companies. This is the same system in which a hospital report says beds in a surgical ward were occupied more than 450 days in a year. The answer to this riddle is that those beds played host to more than one patient at a time. Fifteen years out of communism, this is not just about facilities, it's also about abusing a patient who is system-illiterate and doesn't know that he or she is entitled to a private bed.

One of the country's better newspapers, Cotidianul, welcomed the new year by reviewing a series of ideas - intellectual, social, economic, and political - that make Romania the way it is. They explored Romanians' self-portrayal as victims of history, the belief we are the chosen people, and an unfortunate dependency on a patriarchal attitude that doesn't do much good to a country trying to become a market economy part of a functioning EU.

Much has changed since 1990 when Romania emerged from communism, but unfortunately progress in individual responsibility is still lacking.

If the basic laws in place are not followed and the people don't demand enforcement, Romania sacrifices its hopes for a fair, healthy, and safe life for all its citizens.

But it isn't just the failure to uphold basic laws. It's those other moments of unkindness and shallowness that eat away at the fabric of civil society: the 19-year-old, in labor, left in the maternity ward by herself for almost two days because she had AIDS; or the Romanian starlet, held up as a national role-model, for being cast in ABC's hit series "Lost."

A perennial Romanian joke refers to people's tendencies to move out of the country: "Last one to leave, please turn off the lights." Studies of the Romanian Academy show there is truth to that: The population has decreased dramatically since 1990, and the birth rate is among the lowest in Europe. The population is expected to drop 5.5 million more people to reach a low of 16 million around the year 2050, with more than half of the population of retirement age.

I don't know yet if I will be one of the Romanians who will never return, but I know that if I join the deserters, it won't be because of the macro political or social climate, but a wearisome culmination of those seemingly insignificant "only in Romania" moments.

Cristian Lupsa, born in Romania, is a journalist in Washington.

www.csmonitor.com Copyright C 2006 The Christian Science Monitor

Press Release: Rep. Wexler

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 6, 2006
Contact: Lale Mamaux Phone: (202) 225-3001

Wexler Travels to Romania Urging Officials to Allow Inter-Country Adoptions Including Case of Lake Worth Family
Will Also Discuss Critical U.S. - Romanian Bilateral Issues

(Washington, D.C.) – Congressman Robert Wexler (D-FL), a senior member of the House International Relations Committee and ranking Democrat of the Europe and Emerging Threats Subcommittee, will travel to Bucharest, Romania from January 8 to 11, 2006. Wexler’s trip will focus on the issue of inter-country adoption, stemming from an adoption case, in which Karen and Richard Springer of Lake Worth, Florida have been fighting for the past three years in order to adopt 4-year old twin girls Madalina and Manuela – the sisters of 8-year old Gabriella Springer, whom they adopted from Romania when she was a year old.

In 2001, Romania imposed a moratorium on foreign adoptions after allegations of corruption of officials involved in the adoption process. In 2004, Romania passed a law banning adoptions by all foreigners including Americans, Europeans and Israelis and others except relatives of the children. That law went into effect January 1, 2005. The Springer’s are one of about 200 American “pipeline” families whose adoption process has been halted under this new law. On December 15, 2005, however, the European Parliament called on the Romanian government to resolve all international adoption cases that had been registered during the 2001-2004 moratorium – stating that these cases be resolved “with the goal of allowing inter-country adoptions to take place, where justified and appropriate.”

In December, Wexler met together with Romanian Ambassador Sorin Ducaru and Richard Springer to raise the inter-country adoption issue as well as the Springers’ case. While in Romania, Wexler will urge officials to allow completion of the adoption procedures that were already under way when the restrictions went into effect.

Wexler will be meeting with leading Romanian officials, including President Traian Basescu, Prime Minister Cãlin Constantin Anton Popescu - Tãriceanu, Foreign Minister Mihai-Rãzvan Ungureanu, Minister of European Integration Anca Daniela Boagiu, Chamber of Deputies President Adrian Nastase as well as other senior members of Parliament. He will also meet child welfare NGO representatives including UNICEF, Save the Children and USAID at the US Embassy, as well as leaders of the Romanian Jewish Community.

Wexler will also focus on several critical bilateral and transatlantic issues including: Romania’s European Union enlargement efforts, Black Sea regional cooperation and development, the rebuilding of Iraq and Afghanistan, NATO’s expanded international role, the Balkans and US-Romanian counterterrorism, security and military cooperation. On December 6, 2005, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed an agreement with Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai-Rãzvan Ungureanu allowing American forces to establish temporary bases for training in Romania.

“My heart goes out to the Springer family. The Springers’ have made every effort to reunite their adopted daughter Gabriella with her sisters Madalina and Manuela. As one of America’s most important European allies, Romania must implement a policy that will allow for the completion of the pending adoption cases initiated during the 2001-2004 moratorium as encouraged by the European Parliament. I strongly believe a solution can be found for the current impasse and that the Springers and all other “pipeline” families are allowed to adopt these children,” Wexler said.

Congressman Robert Wexler is a Senior Member of the House International Relations Committee and a Member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Abandoned and no one cares -- Houses of Paper in Romania

From Jurnalul National 28 December 2005

"Abandoned and no one cares -- Houses of Paper in Romania"

by Ionut Dulamita

The recent report from the European Commission reveals that in the domain of Public Administration, the Romanian authorities are incompetent. Their incompetence blemishes the whole calendar for Romania's integration into the EU. One example of this is the "City of Cardboard and Asbestos" in the heart of the Jiu Valley.

From one bank of the West Jiu river, the eye takes in a vista of several rustic, primitive pavilions. What you see from two steps away is the reality of three barrack-type pavilions with asbestos roofs -- "The City of Cardboard".

The whole setting is sprinkled with enclosures for weaned pigs and assorted outbuildings. These enclosures are made of vine props and latticework and shelter a wide variety of weeds small hothouses. Chicken coops cobbled together out of mismatched boards and pieces of cardboard complete the scene. One sees, of all things, a child trying to find a place to play among these ramshackle dilapidated buildings instead of a pig rooting around in the ground.

The rags which are the children's clothing hang on washlines or on the fences. People swarm about with wash basins and buckets and children in their arms. Others feed a few pigs or try to tidy up around their houses, stopping occasionally to make conversation with their neighbors. They speak very loudly as if they were arguing, maybe because there are noisy children nearby. The children play next to ruins filled with garbage which appears to be an old, dilapidated building. With faces dirtied by mud and worn out clothing covered with soot, they gather in front of the photographer.

The dwellers in these pavilions of cardboard are reticent people. They stop for a moment, measure you with their eyes, and then return to their business. They have tired eyes which are without expression and hardened faces. They cast questioning glances and seem ashamed in the presence of strangers. Nevertheless, an older man boldly approached us and with a sigh announced "I'm a writer. I am also retired from the mine." He gathered a collection of stories for children but didn't want to have them published. Another resident, upset by all the noise, stuck his head out the window and cut in to the conversation, "It's O.K. here in the cardboard. Let us alone." The only one who was not shy to speak about life in these cardboard houses was Marian. At 21 years of age he is not afraid of anyone. We went up with him to his apartment. Each apartment has one or two rooms. Uninsulated electric wires run along the wall, pairs of shoes instead of doormats are seen in the hallways, and a multitude of voices is heard behind the closed doors.

Uninsulated electric wires are woven throughout Marian's apartment. They come from a jerry-rigged electric panel full of fuses and without a cover. The young man says that the residents have improvised the entire electric current network in the houses. A small closet-like room functions as the kitchen where Marian's wife cooks on a hot plate. The walls are very thin.

Now, 59 families live in similar conditions in these dwellings which are considered government subsidized housing. "You earn enough to eat for one day and only live from day to day," said Marian. There is no heat in these houses. Most of them heat using hot plates, but they do not pay for their electricity because it is subsidized by the government. In the winter, the hotplates run uninterrupted and even so, water freezes in mugs and cooking oil in the jars because the walls are so thin. The children gather on the banks of the river and sometimes set an abandoned tire on fire. One said, "You ought to see what kind of campfire comes from these."

Although some have running water from the town of Aninoasa, many of these do not have drains in their houses and are thus forced to take out the water in basins. It is also necessary to take care of bathroom needs outside in nature. The ground between these pavilions is always flooded and has a terrible smell. It is a veritable swamp in which bags, cans, and plastic jugs are stuck. There is no sign of a garbage can or dumpster. Some of the garbage is also scattered along the edge of the road. Also found here are moldy clothes, bags, burned two liter bottles and construction waste which form a heap which is more than knee-deep. "Once or twice a year somebody comes to remove the stuff from the side of the road," said Marian. He added, "You go out of the house and see nothing but garbage. There is no way you can have a healthy child in this place."

City of Cardboard and Asbestos

From Jurnalul National 28 December 2005

"City of Cardboard and Asbestos"

by Ionut Dulamita

In the heart of the Jiu Valley are 59 families who live in pavilions made of asbestos. Of these 59 families, 15 receive social aid (welfare) from the Aninoasa city hall. Each person in these 15 families receives $27 per month in welfare assistance. In the other families, at least one person has a job. With regard to these 15 families, their electricity is provided free and they receive 750 gallons of water free per month. Over that amount, they must pay. Their children warm themselves with outside fires and every day these families live in the Gehenna (Hell) that brings garbage and sewage right by their doorways. Said one resident, "There's no way a child could be healthy here."

Organ Trafficking in Romania

From Jurnalul National Wed. Dec. 28, 2005.

Organ Trafficking in Romania

Our newspaper has demonstrated with proofs, that the trafficking of human organs is taking place in our country. However, the authorities are camouflaging this phenomenon by erecting a wall of silence. The truth is that this organ trafficking is being directed from the shadows by the "white coats" in the clinics and hospitals in Romania.

Investigations by our newspaper brought to light the story of a young man who donated his kidney for money to the Institute for Kidney Transplants in Cluj. In order to receive all his money, Iulian Iacov was blackmailed into finding other donors. The level of influence excersized in this and other cases, rose as high as the former Romanian ambassador to the Vatican, Iuliu Gheorghiu. Under the shield of his friendship with this clinic, he tried to offer several thousand dollars to Iulian Iacov in order to buy his silence. But it was too late. Iulian Iacov had confessed to the court and unmasked to the prosecutors who whole mechanism of organ donations in Cluj.

Only in Romania would this kind of case be virtually ignored by the authorities. Investigations into organ trafficking have entered the Twilight Zone. Dora Molnar, chief prosecutor, has not found even after three months, any reason to conduct a hearing involving these personalities from the clinic. We called this to the attention of the Prosecutor General of Romania, Ilie Botos, who refused to take the case because "his office is preoccupied with unmasking big corruption cases in Romania". The dust has settled on these files and no one is guilty, because in Romania organ trafficking exists.

Missing Children

From Jurnalul National Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005

Missing Children

According to official sources, there are over 300 children who are officially missing in Romania. Perhaps they ran away from home, were kidnapped, or lost. In most cases, nothing has come to light about their case for many months.

To resolve these missing child cases, the police are supposed to be guided by an internal ordinance (1060/2000). This guide says that after 48 hours from the disappearance of the child, the police should begin the search for the child, although, in these cases photographs of the children were not released or publicized by the police in order to save face (original author's note--?!). The child name is to be sent to the border police after 20 days.

Our newspaper began a campaign for these children on the 5th of September, by launching a website (http://copiidisparuti.jurnalul.ro) After two days, the first child was found: Patrick Laurenciu Badea, 12 years old, from Ramnicu-Sarat, who disappeared on the 12th of June. He was found in an orphanage in Timisoara. He was recognized by workers from CPS who compared their data base with names on the website.

At the beginning of November, Jurnalul National published an open letter to Prime Minister Tariceanu, Minister of the Interior Vasile Blaga, and the Inspector General of the Romanian Police, Dan Fatuloiu, asking for their involvement in resolving this problem. This appeal was posted on the internet on our website and over 1,200 Romanians signed this appeal. On the 3rd of November, the police announced that they would begin to work on a new methodology to resolve the cases of missing children.

At the same time, our newspaper published an incredible story of Manalau Andrei, a child who disappeared and was found after 8 years. On the 4th of September, 1997, when he disappeared from his home in the village of Puscasi, Vaslui County, he was 7 years old. After two years of searching, his parents believed him to be dead and lost all hope. With the help of Jurnalul National and CPS from Sector V in Bucharest, Andrei was found. For eight years he had been sequestered under a different identity in an orphanage (Ciresarii II) in Bucharest. Our campaign will continue. We will publish the photographs of those children who are missing. Finding these children depends on all of us.

Romanian Requests for Adoption

From Journalul National Wed. Dec. 28, 2005

Romanian Requests for AdoptionThe number of families who are willing to adopt a child is three times more than the number ofchildren available (according to the law) for adoption. Theodora Bertzi, head of the Romanianadoption office, said there are 1,436 Romanian families who have received approval to be adopters which will permit them to begin adoption proceedings. They must also complete a course which will prepare them for the adoption.

THIS NOTE FROM US: The reason the number of 'adoptable' children is so low, is because children are not being declared adoptable thus not 'legally' able to be adopted (thus, Romania can tell the EU, look, we don't have children available for adoption, we are taking care of our own!)

Abandonments or At Home in the Hospital

Jurnalul National Wed, Dec. 28, 2005.

Abandonments or At Home in the Hospital

According to the UNICEF report, there are over 4,000 newborns abandoned in Romania every year. There are another 5,000 children abandoned in Pediatric Hospitals. In 2005, theoretically, the orphanages were disbanded (closed). Consequently, abandoned children have shown up in the hospitals in sections called "pediatric recuperation". These large rooms, in which the children stay for many months and even years, expose them to many infections, but more especially psychological alienation.

The removal of the abandonment clause in the current legislation and the absence of exact time limits in the new legislation impedes (hinders) the process of adoption for these children. And although there are Romanian families who are willing to adopt, they cannot do so because the legal situation of these children is unclear, and thus they are not allowed to leave the hospital. Thus, the Romanian state tramples on the fundamental right of these children to grow up in a permanent family.

Children who are born with malformations are condemned to the hospital and ultimately to death. They belong to no one and thus their fight for life is in vain, even from their birth. They are not allowed to leave the hospital until they depart on their last journey.....to the cemetery of the poor. It is inhuman that approximately 10,000 are abandoned every year in hospitals in Romania. We wrote about this in May of 2005. The Prime Minister, Tarinceanu, wrote us a letter in which he recognized that "the situation is truly dramatic and we are trying to find solutions for this problem".

On the 10th of June, 2005, the Romanian government decided to increase the food allocation for children in the hospitals from .90 (90 cents) to $1.12 per day for children under 1 month of age; from $1.08 to $2.09 per day for children between the age of 1 month and one year; and from $1.09 to $1.47 per day for children between the age of 1 and 3 years old. They also spoke of implementing a rooming-in program beginning in September of 2005.

On the 4th of July, we reported on the high number of children diagnosed as retarded due to lengthy stays in the hospital. From that day on, the authorities have not given any response. On the 3rd of November, there was an emergency ordinance passed by the government that beginning on Jan. 1, 2006, the social assistance for raising a child will be $250 (a month). However, the problem of children abandoned in hospitals in Romania has not been resolved in any case.