This five-country wide round of research into the situation of Romani children in state care marks the latest in a decade-long series of interventions by the European Roma Rights Centre. The research covers four EU Member States: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovakia, as well as neighbouring Moldova. This research shows that across the surveyed countries, and despite denials concerning ethnically disaggregated data, the evidence leaves little doubt that a disproportionate number of Romani children still end up in institutionalised state care.

In early 2020, most of Europe began implementing social distancing measures in order to limit the spread of the new coronavirus. By the 11th March a global pandemic had been declared by the World Health Organisation and most countries entered into a state of emergency, severely limiting the freedoms and rights of citizens in order to prevent deaths from COVID-19.