The number of orphans in Donetsk region has increased by two times for the last 15 years – from 8,000 up to 16,900 kids. Chief of Regional Health Department Natalya Mukhlynina has revealed at a meeting in Malyutka orphan asylum.

Over 150 infants are abandoned annually in maternity houses of Donetsk region. 90% of these kids set in the orphanage and only 10% of them are adopted.

Mukhlynina revealed that there are five orphanages in the regions with 610 kids 1month-4-year aged living there.

Comments

Peter Crosby (14:02 | 12 July,2006)

Does this figure include the warehouses and death camps to which disabled and slow developing orphans are consigned? Can this massive jump in the orphan population figure really represent a doubling in the rate of abondonment or does it reflect the inclusion for the first time of the warehoused orphans whose existence it is now impossible to deny?

Peter Crosby (14:14 | 12 July,2006)

If the population figure is right, then around 1000 kids enter the orphanage system each year in Donetsk region and an equivalent number leave it. If only 150 abandoned babies were entering per year then the population (being aged 0-18 years) would be around 2400, less the 10% which leave through adoption = 2160. Where are the other 850 per year coming from? I know many westerners who work in Ukrainian orphanages and they all tell the same stoy of kids leaving aged 14-18 with minimal education and life skills; most quickly end up in prostitution, criminality and drug abuse, and many commit suicide. This is a huge social problem which demands proper investigation.

edco (17:46 | 12 July,2006)

Donetsk is Yanuk home territory so why do these figures surprise anyone? If you think the PR fortress is bad here just wait until the whole country comes under their control. Russia has the same conditions, unlike most of the other former Warsaw Pact countries. Stalinism is alive and well in Ukraine today.

George Bohdan (18:02 | 12 July,2006)

Vectors for desease, crime and drug abuse. Some could be saved if intervened early enough. Problem is that we can't even take care of the healthy.

Angela (18:25 | 12 July,2006)

iT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ALL PC.., NO DEATH CAMPS in DOMBASS, as. DONESK REMAINS THE ONLY STATE IN UKRAINE WITH 1,070grn minimum wage..,fact check, thanks to Yanukovich. The minimum wage in Donesk is 71% higher than the national min wage, and almost 79% higher than many other states in ukraine, especially in the west of the country. This news is in bad faith.., though a fact...may be.... efforts must be made to check Kiev and others states..,Donesk may still be a tip of the ice berge.

George Bohdan (18:55 | 12 July,2006)

Coal miners earnings are dissproportional to that of others. However the productivity per miner, is not even half of that in Poland. So what? Still no excuse for all the bastards.

Peter Crosby (19:07 | 12 July,2006)

Sorry Angela, but there is incontrovertable evidence of death camps in several areas in Ukraine, and Donetsk is not unique. Your response is typically uninformed denial. Every day you continue to denie, children continue to die. Official denial is one of the factors preventing life-saving reform.

Angela (19:31 | 12 July,2006)

What do you mean by death camps, to start with Mr. PC?

Peter Crosby (20:25 | 12 July,2006)

Angela, in brief, there is a two tier system in the life of an orphan. At various stages the orphan must move from one institution to another as they grow older. What we have discovered, from western relief and aid agencies working in orphanges all over Ukraine is that in many places, an orphan who is disabled or not as fully developed as is required by the standard of care in the next stage of their institutional life (eg walking, talking) is warehoused, in awful conditions devoid of stimulation and affection. In this environment they deteriorate, vegetate, and end up as living corpses; death is routine. This is first and foremost a humane issue, not a political one, and I urge you to think of it as such., although the solutions lie in tackling corruption and poverty. Have a look at http://en.for-ua.com/forum/read.php?1,2928 ifyou want to see some first-hand accounts.

mike (21:11 | 12 July,2006)

Death camps? Gee Pete there are no death camps, there was no Holodomor, there were no Gulags, Siberia was a nice place people were free had lots to eat, no one died that's just western propaganda perpetrated by hoholi.

Peter Crosby (22:31 | 12 July,2006)

mike, of course you're absolutely right, but we in the west have to maintain the propaganda. Fancy looking for some non-existant child warehouses in your locality?

Deborah (22:46 | 12 July,2006)

The rate of children deprived of parental care has rised in Donetsk oblast from 11.3 /1000 in 2000 to 17.4/1000 in 2004. How does this speak in favor of Yanukovitch social policies in that area?

John (23:05 | 12 July,2006)

Deb, Oh darling, you're talking about real numbers. Now try very hard to understand Russian numbers: in 2000 there were 0/1000 parent-deprived children, and in 2004 there were -17.4/1000. Why the negative -17.4 number? You see it is all in statistics. Don't believe western lies. In Donetsk they actually adopted 17.4/1000 parentless children from other parts of Ukraine. Now close your eyes and repeat that 100 times. Don't you feel better? You see dear "truth" (pravda) will set you free.

Yuri (17:33 | 13 July,2006)

PC - I have long wondered, if (as a minimum) Ukrainian communities abroad couldn't run a campaign to "Sponsor a Ukrainian orphan"? Well, doesn't need to be Ukrainians abroad - could be anyone. World Vision constantly run ads in the UK: Sponsor a child, only 60p a day. I have 2 immediate yes-but's: why on earth can't this wonderful hero that ISO, Hope, Anita et al love so much (Yanukovich), in whose constituency the orphan-situation is so bad, let go of a fraction of their corrupt money to help? The problem would cease being a problem over night. The otjher comment is: if we start "sponsoring a child in Ukr", I am afraid the funds will find the "path of least resistance" and flow like water into the traditional pockets. Certainly not the childrens' pockets. Shame on PR, Yanuk et al.

Yaro (00:01 | 14 July,2006)

This is a very sad reflection on Ukrainian society as a whole.. I have visited and stayed in Ukraine on four occasions and spoken to many people in Ukrainian and observed the drink culture and lack of employment prospects for men... it seems to me that more women than men take the responsibility for rearing children and it seems almost a tradition that men drink, dont accept their responsibilities were children are concerned and marriage break ups are the norm in Ukrainian society. So many children being abandoned is criminal and I dont think its fair to put it into a political context, as much as I despise Yanukovich and co there are just as many orphans in areas where he has no influence so it goes beyond simple politics. Why is Aids in Ukraine greater than any other country in Europe??? I find that statistic amazing.......... why???

Peter Crosby (00:50 | 14 July,2006)

Yaro, you've hit on one of the significant factors - fathers abandoning their families. In part it is as you say a social issue, but it is driven in part by the high rate of unemployment and the collapse of traditional self-sufficient lifestyles. To be unable to provide for the family is the depth of indignity for many men, and in despair they turn to the bottle, or leave the family in search of work never to return, or commit suicide. (The last point sounds glib, but rural male suicide is at an all-time high in Ukraine.) As for AIDS, that's simple: years of denial resulting in gross ignorance of simple preventative measures, combined with multi-partner sex and needle-sharing; themselves both social responses to the despair of unemployment, dislocation and despair.

Peter Crosby (01:00 | 14 July,2006)

Yuri - there are many such agencies operating in various ways to support Ukrainian orphanages. All that I know of are more or less honest in that food parcels, clothes and other presents from sponsors are delivered to the orphans and a regular supply of photos is published to prove it. But most that I know of work in the better orphanages; many are associated with adoption programs and so concentrate on the orphanages with "normal" healthy children. Those orphanages which mop up the sick, disabled and under-developed are of little interest to prospective adoptive parents so don't receive the same support, if any. Many are simply unknown to westerners; in those that have been discovered the directors swear their western supporters to secrecy on pain of denying further life-saving visits.

Yuri (10:27 | 14 July,2006)

Yaro - I have a part explanation to the AIDS question (previously mentioned here); I'm afraid it's another sad refl. on Ukr. society. I got it from social workers in Ukr. and own observations. PC described some of the causes for drink, multi-partner sex, drugs and sharing of needlses. Unemployment and inability to support a family is a strong fertilizer for such behaviour, and there is no doubt that Ukr. women (or just women?) are the stronger of our species. So what did the soc. wrkrs tell me? There is a strong tradition in Ukr for visiting prostitutes. (sic!). Prost. and drugs are bed-partners. Drugs and AIDS are another married couple (e.g. shared needles). The drug trade is a money-spinner. Org. crime, as anywhere else, controls it. The Mafia is deeply integrated in the control of society/ business - this crosses the line to the politicians, who need a level of both control and new sources for income (it IS criminal to amass 100s of millions of $ as a politician. period). cont'd

Yuri (10:40 | 14 July,2006)

- - cont'd. To ensure a constant stream of income. politicians need 2 things: protection and longevity of the source. So what would happen if the police cracked down on the Prostitution and drug trade? Right - no money. So the political tentacle into the mafia (well recognised in certain parts of Ukr - perhaps all) has a direct link to a muzzled/ muffled police. The 2-3 major places in Lviv where you can buy drugs (disregarding street merchants) have discrete mafia-eyes AND police eyes watching (you may have to pay twice!) The police car a little down in our street, controlling the goings-on at the brothel on the other side tells a long story. And no one wants to complain. Can you see the pattern? The only place to attack this misuse of: Power - Money - Drugs - Aids chain, is to break the triangle: Politicians, Org. Crime, Police. It starts firmly with the politicians. PS - Kuchma's daughter was head of the AIDS fund; little or nothing was distributed.

Jeff Mowatt (11:31 | 16 July,2006)

Peter, One point to add to those you've already made is the ease with which a notary can be bribed to record paternal support which doesn't exist. On the subject of orphans in general the Death Camps thread on the Forum now spells out the budget, ($1.5 billion over 5 years) required to deal with orphanages. In the absence of coherent government, it is suggested that the leading citizens rights group, Maidan, play a significant role in implementation. http://en.for-ua.com/forum/read.php?1,2928

Yaro (16:35 | 17 July,2006)

Thankyou Yuri for your information... do you notice no village idiot saw to tell me this.. why? Its not an issue with them as they are politicised and a neutral subjects as this is irelevant. I think your theories regarding the chain between politicians, police and criminals are spot on and I believe the police should be far better paid than they are. Politicians made more accountable as they are becoming today, Yanukovich being a prime example as he was held accountable for the fraud his party committed and he result was he lost the election, something that would never have happened under communism. As for aids, it just surprises me that Ukraine should be the worst in Europe when I see the average Ukrainian and experience life in Ukraine generally ... but you hit the nail on the head when you talk about having no hope.... this is a legacy of communism, ten people sharing a dead end job that paid what a hamser eats in the west for a week. Today it doesnt work................

http://en.for-ua.com/news/2006/07/12/133657.html