Bulgaria's Abandoned Children BBC4

[TwoIfBySea]

Anyone else watching this?

Funny how, despite the children being nothing but bones the carers are all well (over) fed. This is horrendous, I never thought I would see worse than the Romanian Orphanages.

And the "Director" says what the orphanage needs most is a computer! Obviously for her own use and stuff the poor kids!

The images I saw last night have been haunting me. Thankyou for those links.

i am studying to be a mental health nurse and i watched this programme and was truly distured at what i saw.I watched parts behind a cushion but felt i had to continue to watch their suffering.This need to change dramatically and speedy , it was like going back in time 40 years ago ,carers are there to care not to be robots .one of the parts i found hard to watch and there was many was the part when a so called carer was feeding a blind child and the way he opened and closed his mouth in a robotic fashion made my heart break , she never once spoke to him or interacted with him. All those poor children need is conversation , stimulation and love . I refuse to watch this and turn my back on it and when i do become qualified i shall endevour to help in any way i can.

Hello Everyone
I have already written to my MEP, the Bulgarian Embassy, and BBC 4 asking them to replay this documentary on BBC 1 on a prime time slot so that many more people can see this. Even if you don't have loads of time to write letters you can email anyone these days even the Prime Minister who is next on my list. We need to keep harassing anyone who will listen to give these children a fighting chance. Write to your MEP's,MP's, even celebrities local, national, international to make them aware. Airline carriers that fly to Bulgaria, everyone should know what is happening. This 'social care' homes are nothing short of concentration camps. If we as another EU member state and human beings do nothing than we are just as bad as the supposed carers who are looking after these children!

I feel so many emotions after seeing this documentary but mainly I feel such anger that the government of Bulgaria and the Director of this orphanage allows these children to live in such a place. I agree totally with all the comments on this page, in particular with MaidMarian2 and TwoIfBySea. That scene when the little boy clung to Kate after she touched his hand just said it all. These children are literally being starved to death physically and emotionally. I have recently returned to UK after traveling around Africa visiting refugee camps and the Mathare slums in Nairobi, my heart was broken seeing the conditions of the children there. But I have to say, the state of the children in this orphanage was in some respects worse, for not only were they malnourished and classed as uneducatable but they were totally devoid of any real human contact and love. Boycott Bulgaria, write to your MEP, the Bulgarian Embassy, the Prime Minister. Write to the BBC and implore them to show this documentary on BBC1 so that everyone can see the truth.

I am so pleased that so many people are emailing! Basically I wrote along the lines of what you were thinking Custardo, that Bulgaria as an EU member, allowing such institutions to exist was an utter disgrace. That pressure should be put on the Bulgarian government immediately to improve the situation these poor children are in. The more attention focused on what is going on the less likely that the corruption will continue.

I also wrote to the BBC and said they should show this, unedited, at 9pm on BBC1 or 2. Can you imagine anyone wanting to have anything to do with a country who treats its most vunerable like this? Would anyone want to own a holiday home knowing that probably within spitting distance there is one of these hellholes?

I didn't write to my MP and MSP but I add them to the list.

I don't think the children would be too fussed about having toys, I think arriving there and just giving them a hug and some attention would mean the world to them. Toys would get stolen by staff, it was obvious they were probably taking food meant for the children. This programme is going to haunt me.

I'd appreciate it if anyone gets a response to add it to this thread please?

Bulgarian Embassy
email is available it you click on "contact us." I pointed out how this would affect their tourist trade and also said that perhaps they should ask fellow EU countries for help to reorganise their care system. I also asked for that bloody director of the orphanage to be sacked.

EU go make this lot work for their money. If that wasn't a breach of human rights I don't know what is. I've contacted them generally through the Europe Direct link to find out who is best to get something done.

Find your MEP

There is the starting list!

thanks twoifbysea ! will get on to writing some more first thing !

can't believe we were looking at bulgaria for skiing next year, as its so much cheaper than europe & the states for families. I'd sooner not go at all, than go there. will definitely be boycotting it.

I would like to go there myself and help the children, I was so disturbed by what I saw I can't stop thinking about it tbh

Dear mumsnetters - if you want to write to your MEPs about this, you can email them through www.writetothem.com. Tell as many people as you can! Let's hope it makes a difference to those children.

Have emailed Bulgarian Embassy & BBC.

Great to see everyone still posting messages on this thread. It would be very easy for a few days to go by and forget about what we've seen. We all have busy lives but setting aside a few minutes to email politicians is worth it if something gets done. Two other emails to consider:

Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary
David Miliband MP
[email protected]

& his Minister of State (Europe-he covers the Balkans area)
Jim Murphy MP
[email protected]

Even if they aren't the correct people to contact regarding this situation if enough of us write to them they will have to table it in Parliament!

Me Again! I have another list for you to email. My MEP asked me to email all of the Bulgarian MEP's. I have made a list for you with their emails that I found on the European Parliament website, all you have to do is copy and paste it in the address of the email.

[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected];[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

Ive been reading all the messages. I cant let the images of those children leave my mind and Im so glad others feel the same. Im contacting everyone mentioned, including tabloids. Ive looked into the care home on the net, and amnesty international reported much the same 5 years ago but nothing was done! Also, the following link is a newspaper article from 7 years ago saying how bad the home was and the social welfare minister was going to shut it down cos children were dying from freezing temperature and malnutrition. It never happened!!! I think its worth contacting her too, or her predecessor.
standartnews.com/archive/2000/12/28/english/theday/story3.htm

Ive copied the page from the press release, as follows:
'The Orphanage in Mogilino to be Closed
"I will close down the house for mentally retarded children in the village of Mogilino if the situation there does not improve", Dr. Tatyana Vassileva, Deputy Social Welfare Minister stated during her visit to the village in Rousse region. The statement of Igor Statev, former orphanage manager, provided the reason for her visit. According to his data, deaths occurred among children because of freezing and malnutrition. "Children died from brain swellings", Tatyana Vassileva said. The municipality council of the town of Dve Mogili is the only one which did not vote for funds to support any orphanage'.
Sooo disappointed for those children that that never happened. That poor blind boy would have been a baby then. They said he used to make noises like he was trying to speak, but he's given up. The older they get, the less likely they will be able to learn

One final link I found, again a press release but Im not sure of the date

((www.b-info.com/tools/miva/newsview.mv?url=places/Bulgaria/news/99-06/jun10.bta))

Ive copied and pasted it too.

"All children who die at the orphanage in the village of Mogilino, on the Danube, are buried in a mass grave,"Demokratsiya" says in a frontpage story. The village mayor
refused to allocate a plot in the local cemetery".

So they dont even get buried with dignity. I am furious now as well as traumatised As you can tell, this has got to me too. Please keep up the good work. Its coming up to winter and we need to get them out of there.

I couldn't bear to watch this programme, but regarding lapassionata's post:

"Romania was refused entry to the EC until it made huge improvements to its orphanages. That and the previous and ongoing publicity hit it where it hurt and a lot of changes were made.
Bulgaria has not been asked to do the same in order to qualify for EU membership. Total and utter disgrace IMO "

I suspect that it may be because in Bulgaria the homes are for disabled children and in Romania they were orphanages. If this is the case the EU have some serious questions to answer about human rights. It should go to the International Court. Boy I'm glad I didn't buy that effing holiday home over there.

petitions.pm.gov.uk/Children-Dying/

i have made a petition here
please sign it and pass to all people you can, found the program very sad

Great idea with the petition - ive just signed it and will urge others to. Difficult to relay how bad situation is if you havent seen the documentary but the petition says it all. Does anyone know how you can get hold of a copy of the documentary. Id like to send it to some key people in the care industry that I know. Perhaps we should also contact the opposition, they like to know about cock ups and this is a major one.

Well my MEP is in Africa of all places just now, should be looking a little closer to home for humanitarian causes imho! However according to his assistant this is concerning MEPs so the more pressure put on them the better.

Off to sign the petition and email the Bulgarian MEPs who I bet lack nothing in their lives!

I am highly sceptical that significant changes were made in Romania due to the EU. Adoptions were stopped due to EU pressure. Some orphanages may have cleaned up their act some just closed but Romania now has a massive problem of street kids. The whole thing is just a sop to the established european govts who seem to have accepted it with barely a murmur.

BBC article here

Have just signed the petition too!

Hello Everyone
I emailed all the Bulgarian MEP's I posted a list for and I have already heard back from one of them, Dushana Zadrakova. I want to hope that she is not giving lip service by saying that she is arranging a visit to Mogilino orphanage and addressing the issue with other ministers. She said she would keep in contact with me on any further developments. With regards to the opposition I've emailed William Hague MP Shadow Foreign Secretary haven't heard back yet but I only emailed last night. We really need to harass the BBC more to get this on prime time tv. Am off to sign the petition now!

Whole social care system (adults too) is disgraceful according to Amnesty International. (Though this is possibly the worst???) By highlighting this, perhaps the whole system will be stripped bare. I've started to put this in my emails as I think these poor kids are just the tip of the iceberg, and what will their fate be as adults?

Have tried to email William Hague - came back undeliverable - have you got the email address? Have only had one response from Michale Nattrass MEP which was very evasive - disappointed and asked him to answer the questionn WHAT CAN BE DONE??? Think this could be an uphill struggle but mustnt forget them.

Rosie - the email address I used for William Hague is: [email protected] I have not heard from his office yet but they most get loads of emails everyday. I posted a thread on Micheal Palins website about this with a link to the bbc, seeing as he has just released a new travel series entitled 'New Europe'. Surprised there wasn't a thread on there already. I'm going to start a list of all the other MEP's in Europe and I will post them here. I've also sent 3 complaints now to the BBC asking them to show this again on prime time.