Finland Takes Russian Children

September 29, 2012 permalink

Russian mother Anastasia Zavgorodnyaya living in Finland has had four of her children seized by local child protectors. The Russian press gives the full story without keeping any facts or names confidential.

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Four children, including newborn, 'falsely' taken from Russian mother in Finland

Published: 29 September, 2012, 19:27, Edited: 30 September, 2012, 01:49

Children of the second grade in a primary school in Finland.

AFP Photo / Olivier Morin

A Russian woman claimed Finnish authorities took her four children, including an infant, after falsely accusing her family of child abuse. The traumatized family will be apart for at least six months, while awaiting a court hearing.

­Anastasia Zavgorodnyaya, a 29-year-old Russian-born resident of Vantaa, Finland, and her husband said that they were shocked when their children – aged between one week and six years old – were taken into state custody and put in a foster home.

In late August, Zavgorodnyaya's oldest daughter Veronika was injured at school, she said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta. The girl's head struck a wall when she was allegedly pushed by older boys; a teacher witnessed the incident and escorted her to bathroom after Veronika became dizzy, and then helped her to a sofa.

The head trauma caused a concussion, a medical examination later revealed.

Zavgorodnaya is married to Ehab Ahmed Zaki Ahmed, a Sudanese national who has lived in Finland for 18 years. They took Veronika to a hospital in Helsinki after the girl’s speech became impaired from the injury.

The parents reported the incident to the school, and the headmaster promised to speak with teachers that witnessed the incident, Zavgorodnyaya said. Several days later, the headmaster called back and said that Veronika’s story was a lie, since she could not find any teachers who had seen the scuffle.

After the school refused to give them a statement about the incident, Zavgorodnyaya said she turned to social services. On September 7, instead of going to the school, social workers went to the Helsinki hospital where Veronika was being treated and took her away.

Zavgorodnyaya later had a brief encounter with her daughter in Helsinki that turned ugly: She refused to let go of her crying child, and social workers called police, who allegedly ripped the girl from her mother's arms.

“They grabbed me by both hands and dragged me away through the corridor. I was in the ninth month of pregnancy at the time, waiting for my fourth [child] to come,” she said.

Her husband was pushed to the floor and handcuffed, and both parents were taken to a police station and fined for resisting police, Zavgorodnyaya said.

During their absence, social workers went to the kindergarten their two-year-old twins Ahmed and Maryam were attending to take custody of the two children as well. “They said we should not bother going to the kindergarden, because social workers have already taken them,” she said.

A week later, the family received an official notice stating that they posed a danger to their children. The document said that, while being examined in Helsinki, Veronika allegedly told doctors that her father “slapped her below the waist,” and that the doctors believed her head injury may have been sustained at home.

For twenty days, the mother and father were reportedly allowed to see the twins only once. Zavgorodnyaya claimed that they appeared to have lost weight.

During this period, she gave birth to her son Yasin. When he was a week old, he was taken from Zavgorodnyaya, and social services would not allow her to see or breastfeed her child, she said.

All four of Zavgorodnyaya's children now live with the same adoptive family. Social services have not provided her or her husband with any further details, claiming they “do not have the right to know them,” she said.

Her letters and requests to Finnish authorities have also yielded nothing, nor the Russian diplomats' request addressed to the social services, she said.

The family hired a lawyer who has argued that the social service is clearly in the wrong, and that a judge will likely take the family’s side when their appeal is brought before the court. However, due to the large number of such cases they may have to wait as long as six months before the hearing; their children will remain with their adoptive family until then.

They plan to move from Finland to Russia once the family is reunited, Zavgorodnyaya said.

“Living in Finland is impossible,” she said. “Even if the kids are released, the social service will put us on blacklist and will monitor our every step. Any complaint, even from a drunken stranger, and we will lose our children again until a new court.”

Source: RT (Russia)

Addendum: A Russian source surveys the treatment of Russian mothers by countries infected with feminism.

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Over fifty children seized from Russian-Finnish families

October 5, 2012, Interfax

Over fifty children have been seized by the Finnish social services from mixed Russian-Finnish families, Russian and Finnish human rights activists said.

"There are currently over 18,000 Russian mothers in Finland. Fifty-one children from 36 mixed families have been seized. And those are just the situations we know of," Finnish human rights activist Johann Backmann told reporters on Friday.

The information was confirmed by Irina Bergset, Russian human rights activist and head of the international public movement Russian Mothers.

Backmann said Finnish women in Finland have adopted an unfriendly attitude to Russian women, saying he believes one of the reasons for this situation is the considerable increase in the influence of feminism in Europe.

"In the ideology of feminism, a Russian woman is enemy number one because in Russian culture and Russian traditions the woman represents beauty and house warmth, she raises children and takes care of her husband. The ideology of feminism has different priorities, namely, complete denial of normal family relations," Backmann said.

Backmann has suggested that Russians should boycott goods manufacture red by Finnish producers to draw the attention of the Finnish authorities to the issue of seizure of children from Russian mothers in Finland.

"We and the organization Russian Mothers suggest boycotting Finnish goods. If Finns behave this way and if they are not ready for compromise and dialogue with Russia, I think we will have to boycott," he said. Backmann also added there are plans to organize a series of protests near the Finnish embassy in Moscow in cooperation with the movement Young Guard.

"There are over 7,500 Russian families. It's a vital issue. If Finns treat Zavgorodnaya's children like this, why are you ready to eat yoghurt or use gadgets manufactured by prominent Finnish producers?" Backmann said.

The human rights activist said he believes the Finnish social security system is corrupt because compensation to adoptive parents and private child custody centers can reach hundreds of euros a month.

"The compensation is very high, up to 1,000 euros. It's very profitable for private child custody centers and families and the borderline between adoptive parents and child custody centers is vague. The system is very corrupt, and no one controls the situation. Sometimes even social services workers organize child custody centers," Backmann said.

Irina Bergset, leader of the international public movement Russian Mothers, has backed him, saying the same situation with Russian children is observed in other Western countries.

"Eighty-three families from 22 countries of the world have now contacted the organization. Yesterday we had a phone call from Florida, the U.S. A child came to school wearing one and the same vest three days in a row and the teacher called social services.

According to the laws of the state, the child is removed from the family," Bergset said.

He togetehr with the Russian Mothers organization is trying to draw the attention of the public and the press to dozens such cases because the Finnish scenario is not unique.

"We, Russian women, will not let anyone hurt our children. We will protect them!" she said.

On Sept. 29, 2012, social services seized four children, including a newborn baby, from Russian citizen Anastasiya Zavgorodnaya in Vantaa, Finland. Zavgorodnyaya is accused of cruel treatment of her children. She denies the accusations.

On Oct. 3, the Finnish social services allowed Zavgorodnaya to live with her children in a social services center. The final decision on the passivity of allowing the woman to live with her children is expected to be made on Nov. 7.

Source: Russia Beyond the Headlines