TIRANA, Nov. 14 – A government-proposed bill now submitted to parliament aims to shift away from a long-standing policy on parental rights of neglected and abused children, providing the legal basis for the immediate termination of the rights of violent and abusive parents who have been found unfit to parent their children.
Minister of Social Welfare and Youth Blendi Klosi presented a list of new measures that aim to guarantee the rights of children in Albania. In his address to the parliamentary committee of EU integration, Minister Klosi said the new legislation forces doctors, teachers and officials in kindergartens to report on any kind of noted violence against children.
“Those authorities and officials who do not report or hide acts of violence and abuse against children will be suspended from their duty. They will also be stripped of their rights to work with children,” Minister Klosi said.
The Children and Social Work Bill, which is currently before parliament, provides clear sanctions against child labor and also pushes the involvement of social workers in each of the country’s municipalities that will work in three shifts.
Members of the committee raised the alarm about the occurrence of child abuse in Albania which has increased rapidly. The chairperson of the committee Majlinda Bregu said that from January to March 2016 there have been about 849 cases of child violence reported in the country.
“This trimester has been very alarming. About 849 cases of child violence and abuse were reported in seven municipalities. About 250 of these cases were new ones,” Bregu said.
She also raised concerns about the number of children that have accompanied their parents to European countries seeking asylum — 150 children whose families have been denied asylum have returned to Albania.
Meanwhile, a newly released study by World Vision revealed that three out of four poor children in Albania have faced violence and abuse in their lives.
