Another 10 shelters for the elderly have suspended their work in Romania after inspections initiated by the authorities, according to Pro TV.
⠀
“Ten more social centers from all over the country have suspended their activities after inspections carried out by the authorities. Among them is a shelter for people with disabilities in Kitil, Ilfov,” the TV channel reports.
⠀
The audit showed that the staff in the shelter is not enough, the premises are not clean. In addition, people were not fed properly. All the people housed in the building were transferred to the Social Security Administration Center in Calarasi. As a result of the audit, fines were also imposed in the amount of about 6.8 thousand dollars.
⠀
In early July, a scandal erupted in Romania with nursing homes, which the local media dubbed “horror shelters.” According to investigators, since November 2020, two organized criminal groups have been created in Ilfov County, which exploited pensioners and disabled people from shelters. According to the prosecutor’s office report, the shelter staff forced the elderly to work, beat them, left them without treatment and care, diapers of bedridden patients were changed every nine days. The rooms were not heated and not properly lit, they did not have enough normal beds and mattresses. At the same time, allowances and pensions were taken away from the residents of shelters, food, clothes and medicines transferred by relatives were confiscated. Prime Minister Marcel Colaku, after reading the materials of the case, admitted that the elderly were actually tortured. The suspects face punishment for slavery organized by a criminal group for financial gain.
⠀
As a result of checks by the police and the prosecutor’s office, several people were detained, seven of them were placed under house arrest, and two more are under judicial control. After checking, 56 old people from three shelters in the city of Voluntar were urgently taken to the hospital. According to law enforcement officers, more than a hundred people were practically in slavery. Amid the scandal, Labor Minister Marius Budei and Family Affairs Minister Gabriela Firja resigned.
