NGOs caution real number of children left home by parents seeking work abroad is unknown

Figures about the number of children affected by the departure of their parents seeking work abroad differ from one ministry to another, and this aspect first needs to be clarified in order to find a solution, Alexandru Gulei, executive director of the Social Alternatives Association in Iasi told a debate organized by the ChildPact Coalition on Wednesday. The debate gathered in Bucharest over 40 experts and practitioners from 15 Central and Eastern European countries, the Western Balkans and the South Caucasus to discuss the situation of children left alone at home because of their parents leaving for work abroad. "The main statistics on these children are provided by the Ministry of Labor, which tells of approximately 95,000 children whose parents are working abroad, since 2008 to date. However, the Ministry of Education proposes different figures for the same period. This raises a question mark, on the one hand because of these differences, and on the other hand because in a decade the two ministries have been unable to see where the issues related to these estimates are, which has an impact on the state's policies for the protection of these children. I think this is where it should all start - at how many such children are there and what resources do we make available to solve their needs," Alexandru Gulei said. He spoke about the problems experienced by the children whose parents leave for work abroad. "The problems are mainly of an emotional nature, but they also relate to what is necessary for rearing and taking care of these children and we are talking both about a person who should take responsibility for this and about certain needs that remain unfulfilled in the case of these children such as the need for incentives for education, housing, clothing, food, etc. These children are not supervised when they have to go to a doctor, undergo certain controls or take their medication. Unfortunately, these children are also a source of trouble at school," Gulei said. In her turn, Cristina Rigman, Secretary general of the ChildPact Coalition, said that the purpose of the regional conference "Enhanced protection for children whose parents left to work abroad" is to obtain institutional support from as many organizations as possible, that can take measures to reduce the phenomenon, and that the conference will wrap up with a joint statement of the participants. Rigman said that the problem of the children left back home after their's parents' emigration is common in Black Sea, Balkan and Caucasus countries, and they must work together to identify solutions to this issue. AGERPRES (RO - author: Daniel Alexandru Florea, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Simona Klodnischi, editor: Simona Iacob)