He told he had discussed the subject in the previous meeting of the Saeima sub-commission of demography. The politician told that there had been 89 cases in total where children were removed from Latvian families in the UK by social services. This year the number of cases stands at 61.
The reasons why social services want to remove children from their parents can be different, Parādnieks said, but according to him these children are all but kidnapped from the Latvian state as first of all guardianship should be sought from their relatives in Latvia.
"It is unacceptable that children are children are kidnapped from the state - they are removed from families and given to adoption without consulting Latvian institutions," said Parādnieks.
Latvia should also improve the system so that after removal of a child from a family in the United Kingdom consuls were notified automatically so that relatives are sought in Latvia who can take care after them.
Besides, the Justice Ministry of Latvia should take a stronger stance in this matter, said Parādnieks. Particularly, Latvia should threaten turning to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) due to Latvian citizens being given for adoption to foreigners.
Of the cases where children have been removed from Latvian families in the UK, by far the most resonant has been that of the journalist Laila Brice's daughter being removed in 2010 as the two-year old child was removed from the family after a call from Brice's landlord said she had left the child unattended when she left for work before a babysitter had arrived.
