Charities and authorities battle over number of abandoned children
Over 30 Romanian-centred charities have published an advertisement in the Financial Times detailing what it calls a ‘Guantanamo for babies’ in Romanian childcare, due to thousands of abandoned children.
The charity groups called for the resumption of international adoptions, but do not know the number of children abandoned.
“We as NGOs don’t have the resources to go around the country to tally the figures,” says Robin Nydes, spokesman for Charities Concerned with Children in Romania.
The Romanian Authority for Protection of Children’s Rights (ANPDC) said that 1,335 children were abandoned in 2005 and only 249 remained without parenting by the end of the year.