Children in Care

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Tuesday October 31, 2006 16:30

by C Murray

90% in foster homes according to Mr Lenihan

10% are not.

Of that 10%- There is a disparity in the care of Irish Children and in the caring for
Children who are separated from their Parents becuase of the Asylum Process.

Of That 10%- The reports say that there is an increasing use of restraints.

Of that 10%- No home has been found for them

Mary Rafferty in the Irish Times published an appalling indictment of the State approach to
care of the most vulnerable in Irish Society.

Lenihan was last seen in Geneva being carpetted because the rights of the Child are not
transposed into our constitution- though we signed onto it.

The rights of the child to care and nurture are being neglected by the State.

The State homes have been found to habitually use 'Restraints'.

'Minors' , for example, ended up on Hunger strike in St Pat's Cathedral.

One attempted suicide.
One self-harmed.
One said 'They are coralling us'

Children born in this country before the legislation change on Naturalisation
have citizenship. Their mothers do not. Many are separated from their Parents.
Some end up in State care. Some do not. The ones who do not are not spoken
of in this report, which insists that there is a difference in the quality of care
afforded to the children separated from their parents in this manner.

Mothers of Irish born citizens are habitually interviewed at the Dept of Justice.
If they do not have a residency on the basis of their marriage , they are subject
to deportation. This happens. The State will separate a family to uphold the
'Law of the Land', these children end up off the radar. Many of the mothers
have lives and friends and supports here. Some have not had the chance
to say good bye to their kids. There is an inequality in the treatment of the
mother and child in this instance. One naturalised by birth- one denied
by virtue of a bureaucratic judgement. Numbers would be reduced if the
families stayed together.

In the meantime the new rules on Romania and Bulgaria further mitigate
against women and children. You can apply for a work permit in seven
years- if you are an illegal, you cannot earn-apply for midwifery, have children.
If you are Romanian or Bulgarian , the message very clearly is: do not get pregnant.

This is happening to the Irish in the United States.

So Lenihan is happy, the numbers are down.
Only 10% of children are in State Care in State Homes.
The old homes are selling well.

The restraint issue can be closely skated over.
The boys who were at the Cathedral are silent and the children of deportees are invisible

Its all about the numbers.

save preference

Comments (2 of 2)

mutual problem: please stand up for childrens rights.

by F.E.M. - F.E.M.

Fri Dec 01, 2006 13:08

In the Netherlands a child who was born on the 25th of May of this year got a letter from the Dutch immigration. This letter stated her child has to leave the country of the Netherlands alone without her mother. For a baby just a few months old being rounded up by police and forced on a plane to Africa and then kicked out of the plane means most probable instant death. The Mother could not speak Dutch very well but was allowed to stay in Holland until 2011 on the basis that she had married a Dutch fellow. The reason the Dutch immigration send the letter is because the mother failed to register her child in time with the local authorities in her village. She has counteracted by applying for a passport for the child in Tanzania, Africa. Because of this the Dutch cannot expel the baby from the Netherlands. An official mainstream (state oriented) newspaper reporter dismissed it hastily as a misunderstanding.
Authorities here and in the Netherlands can get away with everything, as long as the people of the world do not react. YES these are black people and they look different and they come here to stay. That should be no reason to treat them worse than cattle.

Where to put this....

Fri Nov 03, 2006 20:02

The 'Taoiseach' Bertie Ahern(currenty on re-election drive) is promising a
constitutional referendum on 'Children's Rights'.

Through consultation with agencies and the oppostion.

One is presuming that he is referring to the born children-a lot of whom live
in persistent poverty and not a referendum on the moment of conception to
18 referendum....

FF/PD don't do children-because they do not have a vote.

Legislation pertaining to children in recent times: The Age of Consent/Statutory Rape.

The Ombudsman for children asked for the excision of Section 5 from the bill
as it criminalised kids for consensual sex- Bertie was in N.Y at the time and
his role was played by an Tanaiste Mary Harney.

*Other issues concerning children:
*The habitual use of restraints in State run homes.
*The Church/State Indemnity deal.
*The all Party Oireachtas committee on the age of consent.
*Gay/cohabitation Laws and equality.
*Right to abortion info (remember 'x')
*Children separated from parents in deportation cases.
*Human trafficking.

Yes enshrine the rights of the born child child into our constitution, equality
of treatment for all children- whatever their colour and parental wage packet
-and chuck in pre-school care at affordable prices too.

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Comments (2 of 2)