Human rights activists checked the orphanage: “More like a prison”

Another orphanage is at the center of a scandal. At a boarding school for orphans in the city of Sosnovka, Kirov Region, children’s rights are systematically violated. They are beaten and humiliated, and at the hands of other pupils, and generous funding goes in an unknown direction. Most likely, in the direction of the families of administration employees, human rights activists suspect.

Human rights activist from St. Petersburg Nikita Sorokin was the first to draw attention to the situation in the orphanage. He received complaints from boarding school students. The children complained about beatings and humiliation from the older children, said that the teachers did not react to their words, and then the younger ones got even more punishment for “betrayal.” To understand the situation, the lawyer went to the Kirov region. According to him, the facts were confirmed.

“I talked to the children and realized that in the boarding school, discipline is maintained through hazing. It is very comfortable. The administration does not interfere in anything, and the children are beaten and punished by the “elders”. I am sure that such a system was specially created in the orphanage. There is a clear leader in the team with aggressive tendencies. It is used by school staff as a punisher. For this he gets concessions from the administration. As practice shows, such children themselves were previously victims of terror and violence from staff or older children.

Unlike official inspection bodies, which are required to notify about their visit in advance, human rights activists arrived at the orphanage unexpectedly. This decisive moment made it possible to reveal a very meager life-being, somewhat reminiscent of the establishment of the Starsobes from the novel “12 Chairs” by Ilf and Petrov.

– Children drink from metal mugs with chipped enamel. They eat from soldiers’ iron bowls. I’m not sure, but I think that the army no longer has such utensils. Moreover, metal utensils with chips are harmful to health, the lawyer continues the story. – The orphanage is more like a prison.

In the kitchen of an orphanage, cleaning products are clearly being saved. The dishes are poorly washed, with a smell, with traces of grease and remnants of previous food. When a new dish is placed on the plates, it begins to smell bad.

As for hygiene, it is also at the lowest level.

– Pupils wash only once a week, which leads to the spread of lice in children. An epidemic of parasites occurs almost every month. Children try to wash themselves more often – in a footsink. But this is very inconvenient.

In addition, toilets, according to the lawyer, often break. Boys go to the women’s restroom or vice versa.

The children’s bedrooms are equipped with ancient furniture. The pupils sleep on beds with iron bars. There are two thin mattresses placed on them.

According to human rights activists, the floors are washed by the children themselves. This happens three times a day. They don’t provide mops. Cleaning is done the old fashioned way, at an angle. They don’t allow you to squat either.

The inspection took place during the cold season. It blew from the windows like a siphon.

– When children are removed from their families, they must be placed in better conditions. In what conditions do orphans and children whose parents are deprived or limited in parental rights live in Sosnovka?! – the lawyer asks.

A decent amount is allocated from the budget for each pupil of an orphanage. Each region has its own standard, but according to average estimates, the amount ranges from 50 to 100 thousand per month per child. In addition, children receive parental support. We must also take into account sponsorship, which can be very generous, as well as government funding for the maintenance of the building and premises. With this money you could put your children in a five-star hotel…

The orphanage refused to discuss this topic.

“It’s good that children know where to go with complaints.” I recently worked in an orphanage in the village of Bolshiye Uki, Omsk region. There was a video showing the beating of a pupil. Only after this did officials and ombudsmen become interested in the situation. It turned out that the aggressive head girl had been bullying children for years and kept a traumatic pistol in her bedside table, said Nikita Sorokin.

Currently, the Sosnovsky orphanage is undergoing an inspection by the Ministry of Education of the Kirov Region. As the human rights activist assures, the orphanage was well prepared for the arrival of officials. Once again they cleaned the room and took out glassware from the bins. In addition, the “elders” also prepared the children: they forbade them to complain about them and the administration.