Mexico City Bans Cages, Restraints on Neglected, Disabled Children

Mexican billionaires are now worth more than a hundred forty four billion dollars between them but in the shadows of all that wealth many of the most vulnerable residents Forgotten children virtually live like animals here's world news tonight anchor David Muir we travel the streets of Mexico City in search of the children ABC News getting the blacklist obtained by disability rights international facilities the government says are abusive in bad condition yet children still dropped off Priscilla Rodriguez is with the group so authorities put these institutions on a blacklist but they're still open yes and does the public know about the blacklist no they don't know they're about to our first stop we walk up to the metal door behind it an unsettling maze of locked doors padlocks on nearly every door every window children of all ages many left five parents some with disabilities some from detention centers all under one roof the commotion outside this battered door no doorknob a little girl peering out Oh she'd been locked in the bathroom we walk upstairs the gates are locked their two children mopping for fun Rita Casey so government money keeps this home open even though it's on the government blacklist did you find any evidence of doctors therapists features no no psychiatrist nothing armed with her notepad her list is growing we head back to the van the next stop were told even worse through the front door and right into the standing water we find more than 20 children como te llamas and this is another one of those blacklisted facilities here in Mexico City and if you come up the stairs we've been told there are about 20 children living in this building right now many of the rooms are absolute squalor in one room with the children sleep behind the curtain su cuarto you cannot see the floor look at the floor see the garbage there's a child yeah there's kids there children in the corner there and still a smile from a little girl in red why would you bring a child here in the first place I mean look what we're this is standing water that government is abandoning these children it is total abandoned Mexico is falling short these are fundamental human rights violations and lastly past this Green Gate a facility not on that list but getting government money children with disabilities inside cages Roosevelt locked up hola a boy named Julio alone in a corner Oh Eric Rosenthal the founder of Disability Rights International shows me Andres this is just complete neglect and their explanation they were telling us the last time we were here that he was a fussy eater yeah all you can hear is the boy clenching his job his clenching jaw is making more noise to hear that is the product of years and years of neglect he knows we're here we hold this boy's hand and immediately he smiles we asked the nun who is watching over us is he okay spending all of these hours alone yes police he's happy she tells us this boy in a wheelchair the worker trying to shake him back into the seat to restrain him we noticed this boy hanging by his hand on the monkey bars over a treadmill but the directors of the facilities tell us the children have a good quality of life they are clean they are fed they have a place to live he spends 24 hours a day in this cage what hour the moment I put my hand in he grabbed my hands yeah yeah he sat down put your arm around him he would smile but people are gonna look at these children in cages and think these are images we haven't seen since the 50s that's because they don't know what they're and then just this past week just hours before going public an urgent phone call from Mexican authorities they want to meet ABC News in the room with them authorities telling us there will be an immediate government order in Marietta the ministry for social development telling us this Mexico City will immediately ban all cages all restraints a victory there were hardly over remembering the children's faces and the toys they showed us gays are eager to take a walk with a reporter they go this way past those cages for good I'm David Muir for Nightline in Mexico City our thanks to David it was Frederick Douglass who said it is easier to raise a strong boy than it is to heal a broken man you

Channel: ABC News

Views: 1,877,892

Keywords: Mexico, City, Davis, Muir, Disabled, Children, in, Cages, Bans, living, conditions, restraints, neglected, children, advocacy, group, international, abc, abcnews

Id: fnNpXW-Xakg

Length: 4min 39sec (279 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 31 2015