The British-based charity, Friends of Orphanages in Romania, says the world has forgotten the plight of Romania's children. Nearly 100,000 children are still living in orphanages in Romania - and the numbers are increasing. The BBC has obtained exclusive pictures of the kind of conditions children are enduring at Braila in eastern Romania. The footage, secretly filmed by Friends of Orphanages in Romania, shows that some children with learning difficulties are tied to their cots for several hours a day. Children are tied to cots Staff at the Braila orphanage say they have to restrain the children because there is not enough carers to cope with the demanding workload.
Officials blame overcrowding and declining interest in adoption in Romania and beyond.
Romania's poor economy is also adding to the problem - some children are institutionalised because their parents cannot afford to keep them. When they can't afford to support their children, often they feel forced to institutionalise them. Many of these children do in fact have families. The Romanian Ministry of Health divides orphans into different categories. Those it regards as normal are admitted to relatively well-funded centres.