Protection of Minors whose Parents Work Abroad

The child protection law will be amended, as the government intends to introduce more protection measures for minors.

Mihai Pelin, 28.01.2013, 13:32

These days the new Parliament in Bucharest is debating a number of draft laws among which those on the state budget, the social security budget and the judiciary. Also, the government is preparing new amendments to some laws, the child protection law included. The government wants to introduce several protection measures especially for underage children whose parents are working abroad. The labour minister, Mariana Campeanu, has referred to several recent tragic cases of children who died because they were left unattended in the house. The labour minister called on the population and the local authorities alike to pay more attention to children.

Mariana Campeanu: “We should care not only for our children but also for the others’ children: for our neighbors’ children, for Rroma children, for abandoned children and for children with disabilities. They are all our children and I would like people to pay more attention to children, especially the local communities”.

To protect children, the government will adopt a number of measures against those parents who go to work abroad and neglect their children. According to the labour minister the amendments to the child protection law will increase the responsibilities of local authorities and introduce sanctions for those who don’t do their job.

Minister Mariana Campeanu proposed an inter-ministerial co-operation program, because, in her opinion, there are more ministries that are able to take measures to support children. Mariana Campeanu said she would first hold talks with the Healthcare Ministry officials after the completion of an investigation related to the situation of children in maternities. She will also tackle with the deputy prime minister, Liviu Dragnea, the tragic incidents following which 7 children left unattended by their parents burnt to death in their homes.

The modifications of the child protection law also refer to the fact that all decisions that are important for the health state and education of underage children have to be made by both parents even if the parents are separated or if only one of the parents has the child’s custody. Another modification obliges parents who go to work abroad to notify the authorities 40 days prior to their departure. Otherwise they risk being fined. Over 2.7 million Romanians are currently living and working abroad, most of them in Italy and Spain. According to psychologists 80% of the children left by parents who work abroad in the care of relatives in Romania suffer a lot from being temporarily separated from their parents.