The respect for Human Rights, including Children’s Rights in Norway has deteriorated alarmingly during the last eight years.
An enormous increase in acute emergency placements has in many cases put the Norwegian authorities in a position of not only breaking the law, but also violating the basic Human Rights of both children and parents. This has mainly come about by the heavy misuse and abuse of acute emergency placements by the Norwegian authorities.
The vast majority, around 85-90% of all ‘care orders’ executed today in Norway are with an urgent acute emergency resolution, which is a big change from just a few years back. Since 2008, the rule of law has diminished drastically for those children who now find themselves caught up in the ‘system of barnevernet’, Norway’s CPS. The rule of law is far greater for children in the 10-15% of non-acute emergency decisions now.
Acute decisions taken by Norway’s CPS are intended to protect children in vulnerable situations, and should be used only in exceptional cases. This type of decision should only be used when children will be significantly harmed if they remain at home with their parents, if for example, there’s an immediate and significant threat to a child’s health or development.
Acute decisions are processed by the County Board. The County Board doesn’t even consider a family’s ability to ably care for their children – instead they go by the report from barnevernet and their description, and check whether it’s in line with the law.
A review of an acute decision happens first in court, and often 3-4 months after the emergency decision was made and executed, when the child was placed in to ‘care’. From all emergency acute decisions, the County Board uphold 95% of all cases, which means, if it gets to the County Board stage, children have a 5% chance of staying with their parents.
The most worrisome thing in Norway is the extensive use of acute emergency orders. In 2008, the Norwegian Ministry was already worried about the increased incidences of acute decisions and they sent a circular to the municipalities in which they asked for caution.
In 2008, 945 acute emergency decisions were made in Norway, which corresponded at the time to an increase of 20% year on year.
The Ministry wrote:
“The Ministry sees the sharp increase as a call for concern because emergency placements create poorer legal protection for parties than ordinary position after bvl. § 4-12, and because an emergency placement may involve a disproportionate intervention for children and parents if it later turns out that there was no basis for location. An extensive use of emergency placements could conflict with Norway’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights Article 8 and practice for this.”
So, where has the moral floor gone and what has happened since 2008? In 2015 there were 1504 acute emergency decisions – an increase of 60% from 2008. Although the Ministry asked municipalities to restrict their usage in 2008, we have seen an incredible increase of 60% in 2015.
This means today that only 10-15% of all care placements in Norway are now mainstream placements under § 4.12, a type of care placement that gives the child a significantly greater rule of law.
What are the reasons for such an astonishing rise in acute emergency placements in Norway? Are there far more serious issues today and is there a greater need to protect children, so that this increase can be justified? Are parents far more evil in Norway compared to a few years back and compared to other countries around the world?
The answer to these questions is a big fat NO. Emergency decisions are degrading the rule of law in Norway, often leading to unnecessary placements that consequently, in some cases result in serious injuries for children who have been exposed to them.
Barnevernet has become a family bulldozing business, with many psychologists, lawyers, the Norwegian State and the County Boards in supporting roles, as many of these stakeholders are economically dependent on Norway’s CPS.
And sadly, that trend is set to continue as a proposed new law (link below) is being considered for implementation by the Norwegian government which is tailored to exercise far more control of the family in the future, whilst deteriorating at the same time Children’s Rights even further.
This proposed new law would be a huge setback for Human Rights and democracy in Norway. It would seem in Norway, the moral floor is being firmly swept away, the rule of law pushed hard into the gutter, and the family woefully brushed aside.
In 2016 Australian SBS Dataline reported on Norway´s stolen children here: http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/norways-stolen-children.
In 2016, the BBC also reported on the abusive behaviour by Norway’s CWS here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asiT8VupHCI.
In 2016, French TV Arte reported on how Norway’s CWS is tearing able and caring families apart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=BBWXhrN4AM4&app=desktop
FoxNews also reported on the ‘gung-ho children snatching’ culture in Norway: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/08/26/norway-accused-human-rights-abuses-in-taking-immigrant-children-into-foster.html
This Notice of Concern, addressed to the Norwegian Minister of The Department for Children, Equality and Inclusion, has been signed by more than 200 Norwegian professionals; about. 30 Psychologists, 50 Lawyers, a number GP’s and other Health Workers including Child Welfare Officers, Expert Witnesses and University Professors: https://www.facebook.com/Steven.R.O.Bennett/posts/870024986430787
Øivind Østberg, a Norwegian Barrister in Oslo commented:
“No other country has a child welfare system that so frequently removes the children from parents by means of coercion. Not even close. Of the 10.1 per 1000 children placed in foster care by the CPA , in 71% of the cases in Norway this occurs without the consent of the biological parents. In Germany the corresponding figures are 9 and 10%, in Sweden 8.2 and 26 %.”
Gro Hillestad Thune is a Norwegian attorney and expert on Human Rights and was a member of the European Commission of Human Rights from 1982 to 1998. She commented:
”We see several examples which demonstrate how Norway’s CWS, Barnevernet has developed an authoritarian and closed system that exposes vulnerable children and families to abuse by the authorities.
We also hear of parents whose children have additional health challenges, such as Asperger, Tourette’s and ADHD, are too often not met with support or respect for their difficult parental tasks, but instead have their children taken away and are deprived of their parental rights.”
Commentary of the proposed new law in Norway:
Source:
http://www.dagsavisen.no/nyemeninger/er-det-grunn-til-%C3%A5-v%C3%A6re-bekymret-for-barnevernet-1.766944
#everychildisworthfightingfor
#letthechildrenbesetfree
#childabuse #norway
#stopbarnevernet
Leave a Reply