Overview

• During an April flood evacuation near Lauriano, Carabinieri discovered two brothers, ages six and nine, holed up in an unregistered, rundown farmhouse.
• Officials found the boys under catastrophic hygiene conditions, still wearing diapers, barely able to speak, and with no history of schooling or official registration.
• Their 54-year-old Dutch father, a sculptor, allegedly isolated them over extreme COVID-19 fears and rejected vaccinations and mask mandates.
• A juvenile court has declared the parents unfit, leading to the siblings’ transfer to a social services facility and the start of adoption proceedings.
• The case highlights cross-border gaps in Europe’s child protection system, echoing a similar rescue of three children isolated by German-American parents in Spain.