"Self-service"

Greenlanders sue Denmark over adoptions

The fate of the children taken from Greenland to Denmark in past decades has recently been the subject of increased scrutiny.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/motortion - stock.adobe.com)

Several Greenlanders have sued Denmark for compensation because they were allegedly unlawfully adopted by families between the 1950s and 1970s. 

Lawyer Mads Pramming told Danish radio station P1 on Friday that his clients' parents assumed at the time that they were only entrusting their children to a foster family temporarily. "They did not realize that this would be for the rest of their lives and that they would never see their children again."

Claiming money from the Danish state
Four of the victims adopted by Danish families are claiming a total of 250,000 kroner (around 33,500 euros) from the Danish state. They accuse the authorities of having facilitated the adoptions despite full knowledge of the circumstances.

Adoptions often took place as follows: The local doctor said to a woman: 'You can't take care of the child, you already have five'. Why don't you give it up for adoption?

Alfred Dam

In 2020, the former head of social services in Greenland, Alfred Dam, compared the procedure for the adoption of Greenlandic children by Danish families in the 1960s to "self-service".

Signature sealed fate
"Adoptions often went like this: The local doctor said to a woman: 'You can't take care of the child, you already have five'. Why don't you give it up for adoption?' The woman then replied: 'Aap' - yes in Greenlandic. She was then told where to sign. She signed in this way that she would never see her child again."

Back in 2022, the Danish government made a historic decision to pay compensation to six Inuit who were separated from their families in Greenland in 1951 and deported to Denmark.