Thoughts on our circumstances...: Norway: "Acting Like Nazis" - $top Barnevernet - It's Been a Profitable Year For Foster Homes in Norway

Thursday, February 27, 2020

Norway: "Acting Like Nazis" - $top Barnevernet - It's Been a Profitable Year For Foster Homes in Norway

Ed.'s note: In Norway, many people are living in constant fear of their child or children being taken from them. This is a constant reality now in Norway. Child removals have increased by 70% in the last few years with 4 to 5 children being removed from their homes every day. Is this because of the increasing numbers of immigrants to Norway or due to other reasons? The American government has not acted on Americans living in Norway in which the family experiences Barnevernet ("child welfare"). Many families who are victims of Barnevernet have been threatened with jail if they speak out about discussing cases. There are 400 Barnevernet offices across Norway and has become an automated system of stripping children from families. In most of the cases, from families who are perfectly capable working families with no involvement with alcohol or drugs. There are allegations there are millions and millions of dollars being pumped into Barnevernet that bureaucrats are profiting off. Big government in Norway is clearly out of control. Here is how the money angle is involved in stripping children away from parents in Norway: The king of foster homes
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Source: Culture Trip

How Norway's Child Welfare Service Is Creating World-Wide Controversy

Little girl running | © Caroline Hernandez/Unsplash

By Danai Christopoulou | 31 March 2018

We know what you're thinking: how can a country with such high standards of living and a reputation for respecting human rights ever cause a controversy? And yet, the Norwegian Child Welfare Service (Barnevernet) has been facing backlash, both within Norway and abroad. The reason for that? Protesters feel that this well-funded government agency is a bit too eager to separate children from their families and place them under foster care. Below you can get a quick overview of this ongoing investigation that has even reached the European Court of Human Rights.

Not putting the 'well' in welfare?

Let's start from the beginning. Barnevernet (literally 'child protection' in Norwegian) is the public agency responsible for child welfare, and has a branch in every kommune. Under Norwegian law, Barnevernet has the power to act if they suspect a child is suffering – and by act, we mean take the child from the home and place them in foster care or in a welfare institution. This is not unusual on its own; it's the way child welfare services work in most countries. The controversy begins with how exactly Barnevernet power is wielded – and how often.

The problems seem to have started in 2008, after a horrible incident of abuse by a child's father which resulted in the child's death. Since then, Barnevernet's policy has become a lot more strict when it comes to removing a child from their family, even immediately following birth. Numbers reported by numerous Norwegian media show that child removals tripled by 2014; in total, 1,664 children were taken into foster care only that year – about a fourth of which were taken from mothers who were born abroad. This sparked not only a local, but an international outcry, as the countries of the parents who had their children taken from them felt they were victims of prejudice because of their heritage, or religion. After a certain incident involving a Czech family in Norway, Czech President Milos Zeman even went as far as to accuse Norwegian social workers of 'acting like Nazis'.

The (very) fine line between caution and harshness

Certainly, everyone agrees that a child's safety and welfare should come first – even if taking them away from the family can understandably be heartbreaking for the parents. But as Norway becomes an increasingly more diverse society, the very definition of 'safety and welfare' may in fact need to be re-examined. One such example comes from the application of the Norwegian law about corporal punishment: in Norway, hitting a child, even in the form of a mild slap, is completely illegal – whereas in many other countries of the world it's still considered within a parent's right to do so. So let's say you're an immigrant to Norway who's not aware of this particular law, and one day you slap your kid in public because they did something you felt was unacceptable. Chances are, very soon social workers will be at your door, following up on some anonymous tip for abuse. There have been cases where that was enough to take the children away from their families, without any further warning.

Please go to Culture Trip to read the entire article.
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Source: Forbes

Norway's Government-Abducted Children, And Ramifications For Europe

By Laurence Wilkinson | February 27, 2018

Based in Strasbourg, France, Mr. Wilkinson is legal counsel at ADF International, which advocates for rights to freely live out one's faith.

The European Court of Human Rights will investigate Norway's child welfare agency Barnevernet in 2017.

King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway talk with Norvegian children as they visit the Blue Mosque on... [+]

Norway has a reputation of being a world leader when it comes to providing social services and respecting human rights. However, allegations of "child-kidnapping" perpetrated by a powerful and well-funded government agency called Barnevernet have recently sparked angry protests around the globe. International news teams flocked to the country to investigate while the Norwegian government was quick to assure the international community that it was complying with international law.

If you talk to Norwegians, many feel as though the recent international scrutiny is due to one or two isolated incidents that have been blown significantly out of proportion. Nevertheless, the allegations have now reached the Council of Europe, the continent's principal institution safeguarding human rights, democracy and the rule of law throughout its 47 member states, and home to the European Court of Human Rights. While it is Norway's Child Protection Services currently in the spotlight, the findings of these investigations will have ramifications for families across Europe.

Excessively interventionist

Claims that Barnevernet is excessively interventionist in the way it handles child protection cases have mired the agency for years, especially in relation to foreign parents. In 1996, the Court found Norway to have violated the right to respect for family life in the case of Johansen v. Norway, where Barnevernet had deprived a mother access to her daughter. In 2011, a diplomatic storm broke out when the authorities took two young children away from their Indian parents, who were living in Norway on a work visa. Barnevernet had cited cultural practices, such as feeding the children with their hands and sleeping in the same bed as them, as evidence that the parents were unfit to look after their children.

More recently, the case of a young Christian couple who had all five of their young children taken away in late 2015 sparked global protests. Marius and Ruth Bodnariu lived in a rural Norwegian town with their five children, aged 3 months through 9 years old. Marius is an IT expert from Romania, who had moved to Norway and married Ruth, a Norwegian citizen, before starting a family. Without any warning, the Barnevernet appeared at the family home one day to announce that their two eldest daughters had been taken straight from school into emergency custody and proceeded to take the two eldest sons into their custody as well. Barnevernet returned again the next day, not to return the children, but to take away the 3-month-old baby.

Please go to Forbes to read the entire article.
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Norwegian social workers Barnevernet are doing what they do daily, kidnap children