Viewing cable 06BUCHAREST536, ABANDONED CHILDREN STILL SUFFERING IN ROMANIA

Publication date: 28 March 2006

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin

06BUCHAREST536 2006-03-28 11:09 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy Bucharest

VZCZCXRO4203

PP RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR

DE RUEHBM #0536/01 0871109

ZNY CCCCC ZZH

P 281109Z MAR 06 ZDK

FM AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4071

INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 2183

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BUCHAREST 000536

SIPDIS

STATE DEPT. FOR EUR/NCE - WILLIAM SILKWORTH

STATE PASS TO AID

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/28/2016

TAGS: CASC PGOV PHUM PREL RO

SUBJECT: ABANDONED CHILDREN STILL SUFFERING IN ROMANIA

BUCHAREST 00000536 001.2 OF 002

Classified By: CDA Mark Taplin for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

¶1. (C) Summary: During an unannounced visit to a children's

hospital near Bucharest, Poloff observed first-hand the poor

conditions we believe continue to be a fact of life for many

of Romania's institutionalized children. Some of the twenty

children at the hospital exhibited signs of severe neglect,

malnutrition, and a lack of sufficient medical attention.

Local children's rights NGOs report similar conditions exist

throughout the country in maternity wards and children's

hospitals that have increasingly served as makeshift

orphanages because of Romania's ban on inter-country

adoptions. Nonetheless, the Romanian government and top EU

officials have trumpeted Romania's system for abandoned

children as a model for other countries in eastern and

central Europe. End Summary.

An Unannounced Visit ) "No Time to Clean Up"

--------------------------------------------

¶2. (C) Poloff paid a visit March 23 to Victor Gomoiu

Children's Hospital (strictly protect) on the outskirts of

Bucharest, accompanied by an American pediatric nurse who

volunteers at the hospital as a caretaker and has helped

arrange medical surgery for severe cases. The nurse also

provides help to a U.S.-based NGO that provides financial

support and visits the children daily. The hospital maintains

cribs for about 20 orphaned children of various ages, in

addition to the children that are there for medical care. The

visiting nurse stated that the abandoned children, whose ages

range from 3 months to 8 years old, remain mostly inside

their cribs with little opportunity to run around or develop

their capacity to speak.

¶3. (C) Hospital staff noted that some of the abandoned babies

had arrived after they overstayed the 120-day limit now

imposed on the larger hospitals that the Romanian government

often shows visiting EU officials. Other babies are just

dropped off, leaving medical staff uncertain as to whether

the parents intend to return. Often, those abandoning the

children provide false identities and addresses, or have no

address to give. While previously babies were legally

declared "abandoned" after six months without contact from

their parents, the new EU-supported child protection law

enacted in January 2005 does not set a timeframe, leaving

many abandoned infants and children "un-adoptable" for years.

Even then, the nurse noted, the de facto ban on

international adoptions in the new law meant that many of the

children would never be adopted as there were not enough

prospective Romanian parents seeking to adopt. Several

children have been at the hospital for years because social

workers have been unable to find foster families willing to

take them.

¶4. (C) The nurse expressed further concern that the January

2005 child protection law places a "nearly total" emphasis on

the reunification of abandoned children with biological

families. She had observed first-hand social workers

attempting to reintegrate children from the hospital into

"grossly unstable" situations. In one case, social workers

pressed to return a two-year old girl to a biological mother

who continues to engage in prostitution. Each time the mother

refused to accept the girl, showing social workers the needle

marks on her arms from her heroin addiction. In a separate

case, a Roma mother has appeared five times in court to

refuse her rights to her biological son. Nonetheless, the

case has yet to be settled in favor of the American family

resident in Bucharest that has supported the boy for most of

his life.

Disabled and Roma Children the Most Vulnerable

--------------------------------------------- -

¶5. (C) The nurse noted that disabled abandoned children face

the greatest hardship. She pointed to two children in the

ward with cerebral palsy who demonstrated signs of

malnutrition. One was tied to her crib with a bed sheet

around her wrist. Her head was noticeably misshapen from

constantly lying on her back. The other, an eight-year-old

boy, was propped up and fastened to his crib in a sitting

position. His forearms were about the size of a quarter in

circumference and he kept his mouth wide open throughout the

visit. According to the nurse, overburdened hospital staff

sometimes miss his feedings, which take extensive time

because of his disability.

¶6. (C) The nurse added that Roma children make up a

disproportionately large percentage of the abandoned children

at Victor Gomoiu and other children's hospitals. She took

Poloff to the cribside of a two-and-a-half-year old Roma boy

with no disabilities who she said was usually tied down to

BUCHAREST 00000536 002.2 OF 002

prevent him from leaving the crib )- hospital staff "simply

don't have time" to care for him. Due to a lack of

attention, the boy suffered from what the nurse called a

"severe attachment disorder," throwing tantrums and hitting

his head violently against the crib. A year-and-half-old boy

nearby suffers near blindness from cataracts. The nurse and

the U.S. NGO had repeatedly asked hospital staff to carry out

surgery to address the problem. The nurse had arranged heart

surgery the previous week for a boy she met four years ago in

the hospital. The doctors told her not to pick him up since

they were just "waiting for him to die." The American NGO

told poloff that 13 abandoned children have died at the

hospital since 1999.

"Don't Pick Them Up -- They Will Just Cry Later"

--------------------------------------------- ---

¶7. (C) The visit in the section with toddlers was cut short

after a doctor asked poloff not to pick the children up )

they would "just cry furiously" when put back in their cribs.

Poloff went to a separate room that housed three babies, but

has about 10 cribs for abandoned babies that come from

Bucharest's larger hospitals before they are placed in

"foster care." The American NGO is allowed to provide care

for the babies during certain hours, including feeding,

changing diapers, and providing toys. A three-month-old girl,

six-month-old boy, and one-year-old girl have all lived there

since they were newly born. None has been declared

"adoptable." The boy's brother previously spent three months

at the hospital until he contracted tuberculosis and was

moved to another hospital.

¶8. (C) The nurse, who had visited numerous hospitals and

small orphanages in Romania, stated that the poor conditions

at Victor Gomoiu are duplicated at numerous other child

welfare institutions. She characterized Romanian foster care

as only marginally better, noting that while she had met many

good-hearted foster parents, she had also met others in

Romania who "simply do it for the money." In a hurry to

please the European Commission, Romania had closed many of

its large orphanages. While officials heralded these

closures as progress, the nurse lamented that the new smaller

institutions and foster care group homes are harder for NGOs

to reach.

¶9. (C) Comment: Although the European Commission has

repeatedly commended Romania for improving its system of care

for abandoned and orphaned children, the conditions observed

during this unannounced visit to one hospital -- in addition

to reports post has received from multiple child welfare NGOs

and local officials -- indicate the situation is actually

worsening. Meanwhile, EU parliamentarian and former European

Parliament Rapporteur for Romania Emma Nicholson, a primary

architect of the current Romanian legislation, has pledged to

see the flawed approach adopted in other countries in the

region. Our contacts hope that new opposition within the

European Parliament to Romania's inter-country adoption ban

-- matched by other international efforts -- will reverse

damage done by the 2005 Child Protection law and put Romania

on a more balanced and responsible course in caring for these

vulnerable children. End Comment.

TAPLIN

Countries: Romania