Bulgarian MEPs oppose screening of BBC Mogilino documentary in European Parliament

19:59 Wed 13 Feb 2008 - Elitsa Savova

Photo: Dnevnik

Bulgarian members of European Parliament (MEPs) from all parties united to oppose the screening in the European Parliament (EP) of the BBC documentary on disabled children in the Mogilino social care home.

The MEPs sent a letter to EP president Hans-Gert Pöttering, asking him to stop the documentary's screening, Bulgarian news agency BTA said.

The documentary, filmed in 2006 and 2007, did not cover fully and objectively the social care for abandoned children in Bulgaria, BTA quoted the letter as saying.

Bulgaria’s Abandoned Children will be screened at the suggestion of Irish MEP Kathy Sinnott on March 4 2008.

BBC4 aired the documentary in September 2007. It was filmed over a period of nine months at a social care home for physically and mentally disabled children in Mogilino, in northern Bulgaria, showing the poor living conditions of the children in the home. The documentary attracted the attention of numerous institutions and NGOs, as well as the public throughout the EU, forcing Bulgaria to defend the efforts it provided to disabled people.

Comments

Comments by judith - 05:16 14 Feb 2008
	Post Communist Bulgaria has been a nightmare for disabled kids and adults...a shame on the country, particularly as 10% of Bulgarians have great wealth. Some help has come from the outside, plus a few struggling groups. One, made up of mothers of the severely handicapped, is called WE EXIST. I am glad the problem is being highlighted. Bulgaria will be shamed into helping its unfortunate. Next: the shame of the destitute old people.
Comments by smiley - 08:15 14 Feb 2008
	So much for MEPs wanting to bring the issueout into the open for a so called European policy towards this problem. The facts are that there are homes in Bg even worse than Mogolino. Either one wants to do something about it or not. The Bg government has and continues to do nothing on this. IT is never a national responsibility, it is always shoved towards the EU, but still no responsibility for Bg. Because corruption rules.
Comments by smiley - 08:15 14 Feb 2008
	So much for MEPs wanting to bring the issueout into the open for a so called European policy towards this problem. The facts are that there are homes in Bg even worse than Mogolino. Either one wants to do something about it or not. The Bg government has and continues to do nothing on this. IT is never a national responsibility, it is always shoved towards the EU, but still no responsibility for Bg. Because corruption rules.
Comments by mike - 15:04 14 Feb 2008
	The condotions for the disabled in Post Communist BG are exactly the same as they were in Communist BG. And, of course, it's never the fault of the BG government or the country, it's always somebody else's. But things will not change until the BG society as a whole starts viewing every single human life as a gift from God. When that happens people will find out what a precious gift each handicapped person is, and the great lessons that each and everyone of them can teach us.
Comments by gmolto - 04:55 25 Feb 2008
	I just watched the documentary about the childrens' home in Mogilino, Bulgaria. I am very upset that these conditions exist where there is no need for it. The government should be providing help to parents who need it in order to avoid placing a child in an institution. It's called PREVENTION! The government should hire competent, educated directors who are experts at running a proper instiution. Everything from nutrition, education, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs must be met. Funding must be made to provide all that is needed. While I was watching I couldn't help but think that the government wants to expediate the deaths of the children in order to save money. In Canada we there is a saying that "children are our future". If this is true your future is very bleak. I hope the government feels much shame over this and I would love to see that the future brings a complete change in thinking when it comes to social care.
Comments by Nia - 20:23 27 Feb 2008
	I'm a Bulgarian and I just can't find words to express how deeply sorry I am for these poor children. I watched the movie online cause I don't live in BG and I cried all night. The truth is that nobody in BG cares, everything I read is such a joke, they finally started doing something just because they had to!