York Duchess Sarah Ferguson's entering the two rehabilitation centers undercover to check the conditions of the patients stirred the discussions about these institutions in Turkey. According to social service expert Abdullah Karatay, the lack of resources is at the root of the problem.

According to the news in the newspapers, Ferguson entered the rehabilitation centers in Ankara, Saray and Zeytinburnu/Istanbul with a camera and taped the non-hygienic conditions of the children who are kept in these institutions and apparently badly treated.

The images will be broadcasted in the British ITN TV on Friday.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Babacan said that they had informed the British authorities regarding their displeasure regarding the method used in taking the pictures.

Director of the Zeytinburnu Rehabilitation Center Mehmet Kırdemir said the images did not belong to their institution and denied the charges of bad treatment. The Provincial Istanbul Directorship of Social Services has launched an investigation.

Crowded facilities and not enough resources

Similar charges regarding the Institution for the Social Services and Protection of Children (SHÇEK) were brought up in the past, too.

Karatay told bianet that the lack of resources was at the root of the problem and that the state had to change its policy regarding the issue altogether. Too many people are being cared for with very few resources.

Furthermore, Karatay stated that both of these centers were providing services for the challenged children, more than 4000 challenged children were being cared for by the 53 institutions attached to the SHÇEK, 100 children per institution.

“This is a big number. It is difficult to take care of the challenged. There should be at most 20 to 30 children in each institution. In some cases there may be the need to provide personal care.”

Transformation is slow

On the other hand, Karatay also emphasized that the mentality was changing and SHÇEK was working on the problem by forming smaller care units.

“The problem is to speed up the process, but the SHÇEK is a very small unit within the state. Therefore, more resources need to be transferred from the budget.”

Civil inspection

Another proposal that can be implemented right away is opening these institutions to civil inspection.

Karatay says that there should not even be a discussion about such a proposal in a democratic society:

“The centers should be opened to the non-governmental organizations and the experts; an efficient and open system of inspection should be established. This would decrease the number of such incidents.” (EÜ/TB)