Government intervenes in Romanian orphan case

Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff is asking for the case of Romanian orphan Iani Lingurar to be given special treatment.

New Plymouth woman Alana Cleland and Iani, her six-year-old foster son, are on their way back to Romania where, unless things change, he will have to stay.

A law change in Romania has banned overseas adoptions.

Today a spokesman for Mr Goff said he would call the Canberra-based Romanian ambassador today and ask that it be considered a special case.

The ambassador would then take the request to her government.

Meanwhile, back home in New Plymouth, Ms Cleland's mother, Beryl Cleland, says Iani is a typical Kiwi kid and she is "100 per cent" confident her daughter will be able to bring her grandson home.

Mrs Cleland said today Iani still didn't know his trip back to Romania might be permanent and was just excited about the plane ride.

"He's happy at the moment. This is a big adventure for him, of course still not knowing what he could be going back to.

"That's a difficult one because you don't want to hide anything from a child but he wouldn't be able to cope if he knew the truth. How would a six-year-old cope?"

A paediatric nurse at Taranaki Base Hospital, Ms Cleland had first come across Iani when she was working as a volunteer in an orphanage in Romania and Iani was 10 months old.

In May 2003, she had been able to bring Iani on a visitor's visa to New Zealand for Ms Cleland's sister's wedding where they live with Mrs Cleland and her husband John.

But now Romania is insisting Iani goes back, even if it is back to an orphanage.

Mrs Cleland spoke to her daughter from Singapore about 11.30pm last night after they flew out yesterday.

"We had about five minutes. She's wishing she was back in New Zealand -- we talked about the press coverage and what's happening here and she's absolutely delighted that people are beginning to know what is actually happening with Iani and also for all the orphans in Romania."

Ms Cleland and Iani would have to stop in Hungary so she could get a visa before she could enter Romania.

Mrs Cleland said she had been talking to New Plymouth MP Harry Duynhoven who had said in America there were 210 Romanian children having the same problem.

- NZPA