Local official in Tatarstan orders taking the children of those with utility debts

Head of Tatarstan’s Zelenodolsk district Alexander Tygin has issued an order for his department to take care of minors taken from parents with utility debts. A copy of such an order was published edition of newspaper Evening Kazan. The document was issued on December 12, 2016.

The executive committee of the Zelenodolsk district stated that these children are sent to shelters when the heat and lighting is turned off in debtors’ houses at night. In 2016, 11 had been seized in such a manner for up to three months. Amid those families with utility debt in the district are about 100 with underage children.

Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Anna Kuznetsova sent a request to the prosecutor’s office in connection with Tygin’s order. She called the actions of local authorities unacceptable.

Russia’s Children’s Rights Commissioner Guzel Udachina said that it is illegal to deny parents of their children due to debt.