| Denying Lives: Romania's ban on adoption |
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| Written by Daniela Tuchel | |
| Monday, 02 June 2003 | |
 As the Romanian government reconvenes to decide whether to lift a ban on the international adoption of its orphans, Daniela Tuchel investigates the likely effects on a future generation. I met three-year-old Alexandru one afternoon in the back yard of a large orphanage in Bucharest. The moment he saw me, he stopped running around with the other children and raced over. We had never met, but he hugged me long and hard, staring up at me with his big, brown eyes. "He is hoping you will take him home with you," said one of the careworkers. "He has no chance of being adopted. You see, he is of Roma origin." Alexandru is one of the 48,000 children, who according to last year's figures, live in institutions across Romania. His mother abandoned him in the maternity ward and his father is unknown. After some months, he was moved to the orphanage where he now lives with 256 other children. In the past, a child like Alexandru might have expected to have been adopted by a foreigner - over 30,000 international adoptions have taken place since the fall of Nicolai Ceausescu: the hardline communist dictator who ran Romania into the ground from 1965 until his execution in 1989.  Roma orphans take to Bucharest's streets to make a living Two years ago, worldwide criticism of Romania's international adoption procedures prompted a ban on the practice. Due to expire in February, the Romanian senate then extended the ban until June. Other reforms introduced in 2001 proposed to reduce child abandonment and help poor families, while improving state orphanages so that "no more than four sleep in a bedroom, compared to up to 20 now," according to National Authority for Childcare spokesperson, Gabriela Neagu. "This is an issue of morality and credibility," said the leader of the country's leftist government, Prime Minister Adrian Nastase. "International adoptions were put on hold because you cannot fix a car when the engine is running. We had to switch the engine off." Two years ago, a report by Baroness Emma Nicholson, the EU parliamentary envoy on Romanian issues, described: " a profitable trade in child trafficking" in Romania, alleging a: "systematic and organised violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child." Baroness Nicholson - also a member of the British House of Lords - has an adopted son herself: Amar, who she rescued from Iraq during a visit. But is now one of the world's foremost campaigners against international adoption. Jonathan Scheele, the EU representative in Bucharest, has said that bribes of up to $50,000 US dollars per child were being paid to officials to speed up the process. Alexandru suffers the extra disadvantage of Roma origin in a country where prejudice against the minority is rife, but while the ban is in place, few of the children have a serious chance of adoption. "Romanians are too poor to have their own children, let alone take in a stranger," said the careworker. She listed the health problems the children suffer from, including: attention deficit, arrested development and malnutrition. Running around outside, it is clear such children have little concept of how to play; hitting each other over the head and throwing themselves against walls. Scheele said the Romanian government has asked for EU assistance on drafting legislation which will comply with union standards. Meanwhile, about 100 US families recently lobbied American senators to pressure Bucharest into lifting the current ban, by voting against Romania's entry to NATO.  Politicians will meet in Romania's "Palace of Parliament" this month to decide orphans' fates "My daughter has grown and matured so much. Her English is perfect now thanks to some speech therapy, she is attending an ordinary school and I am so proud of all her achievements," she said. When Alexandru realises I am not planning to take him home, he starts to cry and pull at my skirt desperately. The careworker says the authorities keep a close watch on the orphanages to prevent illegal adoptions. "I don't want any problems. The police came here just a few weeks ago, after a child disappeared. They don't know what happened to her, she was only five. I've read in the papers that some children get sold abroad, but she may have just run away," she said. Prime Minister Nastase has said that the adoption ban will prevent Romanian children from becoming a "commodity". But the alternative for orphanage children is depressing to say the least. In all probability, many will end up on the street, begging or falling into crime. Related Items:
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