Parents who go abroad to work leave behind more than 10,000 children!
This shocking statistic was obtained by The Foundation For The Defense Of Citizens Against State Abuses (FACIAS) as part of the campaign "THEY ARE ROMANIA'S CHILDREN TOO" at the General Directorates of Social Assistance and Child Protection in the country.
Currently, Romania is facing a social phenomenon with a major impact on children, which strongly affects both society and the economy of the country in the long term. The migration of an increasing number of parents to countries with a more developed economy means that an impressive number of children remain at home, sometimes in the care of other people, sometimes in the care of the state, for indefinite periods of time.
At the moment in Romania there are:
- 5.313 children in foster care/residential units;
- 3.660 children in the care of professional foster carers;
- 1.879 children in foster care with relatives up to the fourth degree or with other families.
According to statistics, only 17% of children in foster care actually remain in the care of relatives, the rest end up in foster care or with foster carers, either because they have no other relatives or because the process of finding them is very difficult and lengthy.
This change strongly affects a child's psychological development, depriving them of their parents' love and affection. Moreover, dropping out of school, self-isolation or the development of emotional and behavioural disorders are just some of the risks to which children are exposed. Thus, they often end up developing strong emotional states, becoming sad and isolated. These feelings are generally caused by the sense of guilt that the youngsters develop, as they are powerless to face the reason why their parents chose to leave the country.
The lack of concrete measures to make the process of reintegrating the child into the biological family more effective, as well as the insufficient obligations that parents have to fulfil before leaving their child, lead to a continuous increase in the number of children in the protection system deprived of the right to have a family.
You can support our campaign simply by signing the electronic petition "They are Romania's children too" available at www.facias.ro. By doing so, you are joining an effort that could change the lives of tens of thousands of abandoned children. They too deserve a chance at a life with a loving family!