Aid pillaged by orphanage staff

  • 2001-08-30
  • Jorgen Johansson
RIGA - The Irish charity organization Shoes for Children has accused Vegi, a social care center for children, most of them disabled, of stealing and squandering aid supplies which had been left at the center. The charge follows abuse allegations leveled early this year, which are currently under investigation.

Henry Ryan, director of Shoes for Children, told The Baltic Times that after a long relationship with Vegi his organization had for the first time witnessed the pillaging of aid supplies. But police in Talsi have declined to press charges, saying that legally the aid belongs to Vegi, which can do with it as it pleases.

Ryan remains dissatisfied. "Our container of humanitarian aid arrived in Riga on Aug. 1, destined for seven orphanages in Latvia," he explained. "The Vegi orphanage had offered us space in which to store it, and we were to start distribution to other orphanages two days later, after Vegi had given us a list of what it needed. But when I returned there, the director and I entered the storage room and found that most of the aid material had been looted.

"There were more than 150 new dolls missing, more than 350 pairs of blue jeans, more than 120 new jackets, more than 2,000 soft toys, more than 700 small plastic toys, more than 200 children books and more than 150 pairs of shoes.

"The director said something had gone wrong, but she did not know what had happened. She said only Vegi committee members had a key to the storage room."

The following day Ryan said he returned to pick up what was left of the load only to discover 38 people in the storage room, filling plastic bags with whatever they could lay their hands on. Most were members of the Vegi committee.

Staff at the orphanage declined to comment on the allegation although a spokeswoman said she was about to approach the police to discuss the matter. Ministry of Welfare officials have begun an investigation and are to produce a report.

Vegi is no stranger to scandal. While local police have not taken up Ryan's claims, an investigation is under way into allegations of child abuse leveled earlier this year. Children have told stories about how they had been forced to do hard labor, beaten for no reason, locked into small rooms and called insulting names.

The then director, Vitolds Kairiss, was subsequently fired but maintained that all accusations, which had been leveled by a former employee, were fabricated.

The employee, psychologist Biruta Mertena, told The Baltic Times she had lost her job for reporting cases of child abuse to Kairiss although the official reason for her sacking was arriving late for work.

MP Vaira Paegle, who sits on the Parliament's social, health and family affairs committee, told The Baltic Times that in a country which falls short in respecting the rights of children and the disabled, monitoring of institutions is inadequate.

"Oversight is very fragmented. No ministry is responsible for regular and in-depth evaluations, including on-site visits, interviews with residents, employees, relatives and law enforcement officials. These deficiencies allow management and employees to abuse their official capacity and steal from needy residents."

Ilze Doskina, executive director of UNICEF Latvia, said the situation at Vegi illustrated the inadequacy of existing legislation. "This is something the state should think about. The fact that the receivers of this aid are children makes it even worse."

Ryan said he had been suspicious of the orphanage for some time. "This is the third time Shoes for Children has had such an arrangement with Vegi and on both previous occasions distribution to the other orphanages went well, but on previous occasions items did mysteriously vanish.

"Last year we gave Vegi 17 soccer balls, but the children say they haven't seen one. The committee is saying the kids destroy everything we give them, but we say the committee is lying."

Ryan detailed other missing items, such as bicycles and an exercise machine and said management had not once replied to his inquiries.

He said there was only one way to tackle the problems at Vegi.

"This scandalous institution should be closed and the people who are abusing the children there should be sent to prison," he said.

But Shoes for Children will not be cutting all contacts with the orphanage.

"The children there are lovely, and they are the reason we go there. They tell us stories about beatings, punishments and assaults. They are tormented and frightened of the care takers who are supposed to look after them."