Romanian kids taken hostage by European Child Protection Services

A sad Christmas in Santa's country'. It's not a fairy tale, but title of an article published today in our local press - the tragic story of a Romanian family destroyed by the Child Protection Service in Finland. Two children, Mihai (11) and Maria (10) were taken from their mother because this is what their abusive father asked and the CPS were happy to oblige.

It is not even a singular story, an isolated incident, there are dozens of Romanian children taken hostage in various state institutions across Northern European countries. Some of these cases have received extensive media coverage, but nothing seems to impress the all-mighty local CPS, not even street protests or diplomatic actions.

As the marriage was beyond saving, the woman did her best to learn the language well enough to get a job as a doctor, got a divorce and was looking forward to living a normal peaceful life. Her ex filed to get custody of the kids arguing that she might take them away to her native Romania. This is an important part of the case, as this is the only reason why she was separated from the kids. There were never any allegations against her and she was allowed to keep her eldest daughter, from a previous marriage.

In retrospect, it seems her biggest mistake was trusting CPS would act within the law. She let them into her house, thinking nothing can happen since they had no legal documents or a warrant to take away the kids. But they did and took care of the paperwork later. Here is a video showing the terrifying moment the children were kidnapped by the CPS. Apparently, the video was taken by the friends she had asked to be with her on the day social services were expected to come by.The case of the Romanian doctor Camelia Smicală is one of the most publicized stories of CPS abuse. Her nightmare started in 2005 when she married a Finnish man, who, soon enough, turned out to be an alcoholic and abusive husband. As in other countless stories, she thought maybe a child would make a difference. It did not. They went on to have a second child, the result of what the woman describes as conjugal rape. Since she had suffered severe complications with the first C-section, the Finnish doctors urged her to abort the second baby. Her husband beat her and tried to strangle her. Camelia Smicala kept the baby, a healthy girl born in 2007.

Just in case you found the video disturbing, let me just add that Camelia ended with broken ribs, but got a 6-month suspended jail sentence, as one of the social workers involved got a scratch from the fight and a mental trauma. According to Finnish justice, the incident was traumatic for the social worker, not for the mother or her children. 

Naturally, the local authorities ruled it favor of the father, turning a blind eye on his history of abuse against his wife and children. We're talking about a father who tried waterboarding his son, allegedly to make the child more compliant and loving. Still, he got full custody in 2015 and the children were taken to live with their father, who, at the time, was jobless and broke. However, after a few months the same CPS that had granted him custody took the children away from him, citing imminent danger.
Obviously, the kids were not returned to their mother, but were placed in an institution. This year, social services decided to separate the kids, accusing the boy of manipulating his younger sister – as in insisting they want to go back to their mother. The girl now lives with a foster family, while the boy is still in an institution. A few months ago, he was threatened to be given an ADHD diagnostic (and the corresponding medication) if he keeps being stubborn about going home.

Their Christmas was sad. Camelia Simcala brought them gifts on their scheduled once-a-month supervised meeting, on December 22.
“My children are afraid to talk to me. The important things they whisper in my ear, afraid to be overheard”, the woman told a Romanian newspaper. Other children in the institution were allowed to visit their families for Christmas, the Romanian kids were not.
According to Finnish law, kids over the age of 12 are allowed to decide which parent they want to live with in case of a divorce. Mihai will be turning 12 next year, but the law doesn't apply to him. Children in an institution don't get to choose.

With a suspended sentence in her file, Camelia Simcala is now risking her freedom by talking to the press, but she says she doesn't have a choice. In a interview earlier this year, she stated that in her opinion this is a giant experiment aimed at destroying families and creating well-trained citizens. She went as far as to compare the workings of the Finnish CPS with the notorious Nazi-era Lebensborn program, under which children of mixed origins were taken into orphanages to be raised as dedicated Nazi soldiers.
The Finnish CPS has a dark past, full of violence, sexual abuse, child labor. Last year, Juha Rehula, the minister of family affairs, apologized for the terrible suffering of the children who were in the system between the 1950s and the 1980s. As for the current state of the CPS, the minister promised they'll be given more money. Not a word about the abuse going on at present.