ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Employees at a hospital in Kirkuk are caring for two children who were abandoned at the health care facility.
One of the children is a nine-month-old boy whose mother left him at birth.
“This place is really not good for this child, neither a proper sleep nor a place to stay. He should be somewhere proper to rest,” Jinan Mohammed, a nurse at the hospital, told Rudaw earlier this week.
The other child is a three-year-old girl. Employees at Azadi Hospital say that the mother visits the hospital to see her child, but refuses to take her home.
The health care staff have expressed concern about the situation, as they have been the ones caring for the children and are overwhelmed by the responsibility.
They have raised the issue with the judiciary in Kirkuk, but have not received a response.
“The first child is named Shoosha, and her mother is known. She says, 'I cannot take care of her.' She was registered at the hospital under the name Shahrzad. The mother is a beggar and as she says, 'I have no place’," Doctor Fayza Khattab, director of the hospital's pediatric department, told Rudaw.
“The second child is called Azhi by the employees and the mother is unknown. We have approached the court several times, requesting a final decision regarding the fate of these two children, but we have not received any response," Khattab said.
Kirkuk has no orphanage or care home for children under five years of age, so the hospital keeps the children until they reach that age.
Iraqi law criminalizes the abandonment or neglect of unaccompanied children or those rejected by their relatives.
One of the children is a nine-month-old boy whose mother left him at birth.
“This place is really not good for this child, neither a proper sleep nor a place to stay. He should be somewhere proper to rest,” Jinan Mohammed, a nurse at the hospital, told Rudaw earlier this week.
The other child is a three-year-old girl. Employees at Azadi Hospital say that the mother visits the hospital to see her child, but refuses to take her home.
The health care staff have expressed concern about the situation, as they have been the ones caring for the children and are overwhelmed by the responsibility.
They have raised the issue with the judiciary in Kirkuk, but have not received a response.
“The first child is named Shoosha, and her mother is known. She says, 'I cannot take care of her.' She was registered at the hospital under the name Shahrzad. The mother is a beggar and as she says, 'I have no place’," Doctor Fayza Khattab, director of the hospital's pediatric department, told Rudaw.
“The second child is called Azhi by the employees and the mother is unknown. We have approached the court several times, requesting a final decision regarding the fate of these two children, but we have not received any response," Khattab said.
Kirkuk has no orphanage or care home for children under five years of age, so the hospital keeps the children until they reach that age.
Iraqi law criminalizes the abandonment or neglect of unaccompanied children or those rejected by their relatives.
Adnan Rashid contributed to this article.
