Invisible children: Romania's orphan tragedy.

Prior to its entry into the European Union in January 2007, Romania selectively reformed its political and economic institutions and policies in order to meet EU standards and regulations. While agricultural and foreign policies were altered with much publicity, substandard social conditions in need of change, including childcare, human trafficking, prison overcrowding, and conditions in psychiatric institutions, were merely discussed. In particular, Romania has taken inadequate and inefficient steps to protect its orphaned and disabled children. These less publicized social concerns, however, were not considered sound grounds for postponing membership, and Romania was duly welcomed into the European club. By doing so, great damage has been done not only to the lives of Romania's children but also to the mission of the European Union.

Articles 24 and 26 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union establish the inherent rights of the child and disabled persons, respectively. Moreover, the European Union enthusiastically adopted the new UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, deeming it a positive step in the establishment of human dignity. Hence, orphaned and disabled children are protected on a transnational scale under these two agreements. The reality, however, for these children is dire.

While a growing number of orphaned children are protected by Law 272--written in conjunction with the European Union to correct the government's poor treatment of orphaned children in government institutions--orphaned and disabled children were excluded. To be precise, the government ordered that children under the age of two could not live in a government-run orphan institution, in the hope of building relations between orphaned children and biological or foster relatives. Nonetheless, Law 272 also includes a particular loophole that permits all orphaned children under the age of two with "severe" disabilities to be sent to these institutions. Though Romania also concedes that around 700 infants have never left the maternity ward of hospitals, it denies the existence of infants in Romanian institutions. Such institutions, though newer, are not proper homes for children and further the development of disabilities. UNICEF estimates that there are about 200 of these smaller institutions in Romania; child protection authorities admit that there are over 30,000 children, many disabled, still living there.

It was only a matter of time before the appalling conditions of these institutions were uncovered. Mental Disability Rights International, an organization dedicated to the investigation and documentation of human rights abuses, recently headed an 18-month fact finding investigation into the situation in these remaining institutions. They found that both healthy and disabled children were housed in adult institutions and were subject to extreme hunger and restraints. Teenagers were so emaciated and shrunken that they resembled children of ages three and four. Due to the lack of staff, infants were tied to their cribs, some never allowed to leave. Sanitation was also a major problem; lice and contagious diseases were pervasive, serving to only exacerbate the physical and mental disabilities of the children. Their chances of leaving institutions are slim; nurses reported that while children with mild disabilities could be adopted, they often lack identification papers, live without a legal identity, and are thereby confined to these institutions.

Even if children with disabilities are given permission to leave, their future prospects are bleak. Only 28 percent of the 52,000 Romanian children with disabilities obtain some education. Social stigma and discrimination also prevent disabled workers from obtaining jobs even though the Romanian legislature has implemented a quota to ensure that large employers reserve four percent of their workforce for disabled workers. Minimum wage and disability benefits are low, dissuading disabled workers from seeking employment where they know they will be subject to ridicule. Since the orphanages are the origins of this negative phenomenon, Romania should place heavy emphasis on improving the management and conditions of these institutions.

As a signer of the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the European Union should expect its members to adhere to the tenets it establishes. The Romanian government, however, has yet to improve the treatment of its children and ensure that infants are registered, as required by Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Having attained EU membership, Romania now has less incentive to improve the conditions for these children, but has instead turned a blind eye. By accepting Romania into the union without waiting for visible and undeniable reform of such inhumane practices, the European Union has weakened the authority of its Charter and undermined its objective and credibility.

Should this set a precedent for future entrants into the European Union, the strength of the values and basic human rights standards of a common Europe will be severely weakened and discredited. The future of children in Romania and in the rest of Europe must not be jeopardized by inattention.

associate editor

JESSICA CAPLIN