Labour exploitation, beatings and extortion of personal funds: blatant violations of children’s rights in a children’s home in Zakarpattia

In September, a scandal involving an educational and rehabilitation center in Lviv region, where blatant cases of violence against children were reported, gained widespread attention. The case caused public shock and indignation, as children under the care of the state became victims of brutal violations of their rights. Against the background of this scandal, on October 22, another alarming piece of information from Transcarpathia appeared, which only emphasizes the scale of the problem. In one of the children’s boarding houses, systematic labor exploitation, beating of children and extortion of funds were discovered, which causes serious concern about the state of protection of the rights of pupils in similar institutions throughout Ukraine.

Egregious violations in an orphanage in Transcarpathia

Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported, that the monitoring group of the Ombudsman’s Office, headed by the Representative in Zakarpattia Oblast Andriy Kryuchkov, inspected one of the children’s boarding houses in the oblast. The results of the visit caused a shock, because numerous violations of the rights of children who are in this institution were found.

1. Labor exploitation
   Pupils of the orphanage were used as free labor to pick apples in the private garden of one of the local enterprises. This fact is confirmed by official documents, in particular the contract between the directors of the boarding house and the enterprise. The contract provided for “mutual assistance” in picking apples, but in reality it was the labor exploitation of minors who did not receive any remuneration for their work.
2. Beating pupils
   During the visit to the institution, it became known about the beating of one of the students by the director of the boarding school. This act of violence was witnessed by his deputy and one of the students who tried to stop the use of physical force. The incident highlights serious problems with discipline and management at the facility, where instead of being protected, children are being abused by those who are supposed to be protecting them.
3. Extortion of funds
   Another glaring fact was the extortion of funds from pupils for the purchase of furniture for the boarding house. The children were forced to write statements asking for their own money from the bank cards, which were found to be kept in the deputy headmaster’s safe along with all the pin codes and other documents. During the review of the documentation, 12 such statements written in the same handwriting were found, which referred to a request to use funds in the amount of 5,100 hryvnias. The director explained that this money was spent on the purchase of cabinets worth more than 50 thousand hryvnias, but the furniture itself was not accounted for in the institution.

Reaction of the authorities and further actions

After discovering these serious violations, the Representative of the Ombudsman in Zakarpattia region sent an official notification to the law enforcement agencies about the presence of signs of criminal offenses.

“Currently, representatives of the National Police of Ukraine have inspected the scene, interviewed the director and seized documents.

I would like to emphasize that such violations of the rights of pupils are unacceptable! The situation requires a proper response and punishment of the guilty!”, – said Dmytro Lubinets.

Other egregious cases

We would like to remind you that this is not the first case of child abuse discovered in Transcarpathia. They happened to be in a shelter for children of the children’s service of Zakarpattia OVA. On September 17, the Representative Office of the VRU Commissioner for Human Rights in Zakarpattia Oblast reported:

“Representative of the Ombudsman of Ukraine Dmytro Lubinets in Zakarpattia Oblast Andriy Kryuchkov together with the team made a repeated monitoring visit to the shelter for children of the Service for Children of Zakarpattia OVA (hereinafter – the Shelter) in order to verify the elimination of the detected violations.

VIOLATIONS OF CHILDREN’S RIGHTS WERE DISCOVERED DURING MONITORING:

– the right to education of children who are not native speakers of the Hungarian language and are supposed to study in grades 10-11 is violated, they are deprived of the right to education, because in the settlement where the Asylum is located, there is a general education institution of grades I-III for students of grades 10-11 only with the Hungarian language of instruction (distance learning is not organized);

– children of school age (grades 1-9) who are in the shelter and attend Bativska gymnasium and Bativska lyceum are not provided with food;

– not a single workplace has been arranged for performing homework related to the use of computer equipment: they do not have access to the Internet, writing abstracts, creating presentations, etc.;

– the right to a sufficient standard of living is violated, all the children’s bedrooms are affected by mold and need major repairs;

– almost all bedside tables lack children’s personal belongings and personal hygiene products;

– no entertainment activities are organized for children, except for watching movies and cartoons, no group sports or entertainment activities are held;

– the rights of persons with disabilities and people with reduced mobility are violated, the Shelter building is not adapted to the needs of people with disabilities and other groups with reduced mobility;

– children’s right to life and safety is violated. The institution lacks protective structures (shelters) and any equipped premises that should ensure the safe stay of pupils and staff of the institution in the event of an “Airborne alert” signal being announced in the region or shelling.

These shocking cases have become another proof that the system of protection of children’s rights in such institutions needs immediate attention and reform. Children who have already found themselves in difficult life circumstances should not become victims of additional abuse and violence. They deserve decent living, upbringing and education conditions, and those guilty of these violations should be brought to justice.

This case in Transcarpathia is just one of many examples of systemic problems in the field of child welfare in Ukraine. It is necessary to develop comprehensive measures to ensure proper control over the activities of such institutions, as well as to create mechanisms for the protection of children under the care of the state. Every such incident requires an immediate and tough response from the authorities, because silently tolerating such cases will only contribute to their spread.