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Deaths of 77 orphans prompt inquiry in Sudan
[Al Arabiya Latest] The deaths of 77 children at Sudan's main orphanage has sparked an investigation, officials said on Tuesday, in a case that has lifted the lid on the plight of abandoned infants in Africa's largest state."We have seen the official figures and they are horrifying. I welcome the decision that there will be an investigation into the current situation at Mygoma," Nils Kastberg, UNICEF's Sudan representative, told Reuters, referring to the state-owned orphanage where the deaths occurred. The manager of the charity operating in the Khartoum orphanage defended his record, telling Reuters he had saved thousands of children and adding that deaths were inevitable given the condition of babies when they arrived. "The numbers were high... But last month we received 46 premature babies. Many of them were suffering from septicemia. What am I going to do?" Mohamed Muhedin Elgemiabby, head of Ana Assudan, the charity contracted to care for the children in Mygoma, said. "Most are delivered early. They were born in unhygienic areas. They are found in water canals, in sewers ... They need incubators but it is very difficult to find incubators." The United Nations estimates hundreds of babies are abandoned in Khartoum every year by women in the predominantly Muslim country unable to bear the stigma of having a child outside marriage. Half of the infants die before getting help. Most of those found on the streets of the capital are taken to Mygoma where authorities try to find new homes with families. Posted by: Fred 2009-10-28 |
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