EP hears Romanian officials on child protection system

This hearing was Friday, 5/19/2006 - European Time. It is amazing how great the denial is.

EP hears Romanian officials on child protection system
Alecs Iancu

The ban on inter-country adoptions, reforms of child protective services and the recent report by a U.S. rights group about the inhumane conditions in which children with disabilities live in Romania were the main topics Romanian officials had to address during a hearing in the European Parliament on Tuesday. A report made public last week by Mental Disability Rights International prompted wide controversy, as it showed that children with disabilities were held in mental institutions for adults, where they were submitted to inhumane and cruel treatment, often being kept tied to their beds, in filth and without proper care or nurturing.

The report was refuted by Romanian officials, who claimed information in the document was old and the situation of those children has changed.

Following the report, the European Parliament's former rapporteur for Romania, Emma Nicholson, and MEP Ana Maria Gomes made a visit last week to the facilities mentioned in the report to assess the situation personally.

During Tuesday's hearing in the European Parliament, the two MEPs presented their findings and a series of photographs they took during their visit, said the head of the Romanian Adoption Office, State Secretary Theodora Bertzi.

Both Nicholson and Gomes said the report by the U.S. group included out of date information.

During the hearing, Euro-deputies resumed talks on the ban Romania imposed on inter-country adoptions. Nicholson is an avid supporter of the law, which Romania enforced after the former rapporteur said previous laws were too lenient and helped child trafficking rings. The ban was criticized by several countries, including the U.S. The EP also asked Romania to solve approximately one thousand cases of adoption that were blocked when the ban came into effect.

Nicholson's position during debates on Tuesday was also supported by MEP Miguel Angel Martinez. According to Bertzi, Martinez explained that no country should be told how to develop its laws. As for the situation of children with disabilities, Martinez said that such cases happen everywhere in the world. According to the MEP, Romanian children are treated as any other European child and the European Parliament should stop imposing role models for countries. Each country has its own problems it has to deal with, he said.

Romanian representatives at the debate said Romania is assuming reforms in the child protection system, stated Bertzi.