Mogilino is a village in
Ruse Province
Ruse Province ( bg, Област Русе, translit=Oblast Ruse), or Rusenska Oblast ( bg, Русенска област, former name Okrug, Ruse okrug) is a Provinces of Bulgaria, province in northern Bulgaria, named after its main city, Ruse, ...
, northern
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
. It became well known internationally after several reports about the institution for children with physical and mental
disabilities
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...
. In 2007, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
showed the film "Bulgaria's Abandoned Children". The British public were deeply disturbed and started a petition to the Prime Minister to intervene and put pressure on
EU institutions and the Bulgarian government to solve the problem. Many British, Bulgarian and international charities intensified their work effort to solve the problem with abandoned children in the country. The case of Mogilino resembles the campaign publicising the conditions in the
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n orphanages in the early 1990s. Bulgaria has been criticised for having one of the highest numbers of children in state institutional care in the EU.
On 30 January 2008
Bulgarian National Television
The Bulgarian National Television ( Bulgarian: Българска национална телевизия, ''Balgarska natsionalna televizia'') or BNT (БНТ), stylized as ·Б·Н·Т· since 2018, is a public television broadcaster of Bulgaria ...
presented its answer to the BBC documentary in the form of a documentary called ''Dom'' (House or Home). "It is not right that the whole of Europe be antagonised against Bulgaria because of a well-manipulated and skilfully edited documentary on a home being prepared to close down, such as Mogilino,” the makers said.
On the same day, Bulgarian Members of the European Parliament signed a declaration in which they called for "a common European policy on the upbringing and education of underprivileged children."
On 22 February 2008 Labour and Social Policy Minister Emilia Maslarova repeated a promise that the Mogilino home, along with six similar homes, would be closed.
At the initiative of Irish member of the European Parliament Kathy Sinnott, Kate Blewett's documentary was screened in the European Parliament on 4 March 2008.
On 27 June 2008
The Sofia Echo
''The Sofia Echo'' is Bulgaria's national English-language weekly newspaper published out of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
History and profile
The ''Sofia Echo'' has been published since April 1997, generally targeted at the Bulgarian expatri ...
reported that some of the children from the Mogilino home had been relocated to other homes around Bulgaria, and that the Agency for Social Assistance and UNICEF were working, ultimately, to close the home.
Of Mogilino and men
The Mogilino Children's Institution finally closed on 1 October 2009, following further pressure from the BBC and the EU.
References
External links
Campaign for Bulgaria's Abandoned Children
Report on institutions for children in Bulgaria
by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee
Moglino case blog (in Bulgarian)
Friends of Bulgaria
UK charity, information on Mogilino and other children institutions in Bulgaria
The Sofia Echo article
6 November 2007: "Mogilino Social Care Home for disabled children to be closed after BBC documentary aired"
Sofia Echo article
7 November 2007: "Debate on Bulgaria's Abandoned Children"
The Sofia Echo article
30 January 2008: BNT strikes back at BBC's Mogilino Documentary
The Sofia Echo article
30 January 2008: Bulgarian MEPs call for European policy on underprivileged children
The Sofia Echo article
29 February 2008: Bulgarian Social Minister angry with Brussels over Mogilino screening
Mogilino, Lost in translation
14 March 2008. The article analyses translation errors in the BBC film Bulgaria's Abandoned Children
{{Dve Mogili
Villages in Ruse Province