On the night of November 8, Keira Alexandra Kronvold, a 38 -year -old woman of Greenlandic origin, gave birth to a healthy girl at the Thisted hospital in Denmark. But, what was to be the best day of his life turned into a nightmare. Two hours after giving birth, she had to give her newborn baby to a case manager of the municipality of Thisted. Forcibly taken, he was entrusted to a Danish host family.
For what? Because the mother was not tried “Civilized sufficiently” by the Danish parental skills assessment test (FKU). Psychometric tests are widely used in Denmark in the context of child protection surveys on new parents, but has long been criticized by human rights organizations as being culturally unsuitable for people of Greenlandic origin and minorities. This month, the case sparked extent demonstrations in Copenhagen and Nuuk, the capital of the autonomous territory. The Guardian tells us more.
According to Tina Naamansen, president of Sila 360, who works on the surveillance of the legal rights of the Inuit, it is “One case among so many others”. The children of Greenlandic parents living in Denmark – who once ruled Greenland as a colony and continues to control its foreign and security policy – are much more likely to be placed than those of Danish parents. According to a 2022 report, 5.6% of children of Greenlandic origin living in Denmark are placed, against 1% of those of Danish origin.
Louise Holck, director of the Danish Institute for Human Rights (“Danish Institute of Human Rights” in French), urges municipalities to immediately stop using tests on Greenlandic parents until the questions can be adapted to their language and their culture. In a 2022 report, the Institute explains that Greenlandic parents, faced with this unsuitable test, “Risk of obtaining low results, so that it is concluded, for example, that they have reduced cognitive capacities, without any real evidence of this.” Gold, “Such errors of judgment can have heavy consequences for children and parents”.
Dramatic consequences
This is the case for Keira Alexandra Kronvold. Psychological evaluations were carried out by a psychologist speaking the Danish. However, the mother, whose mother tongue is Kalaallisut (Western Greenlanders), does not speak about the Danes. In a passage from his file, we can read that “Its Greenlandic origin would make it difficult for it to prepare the child for expectations and social codes necessary in Danish society”. She can now spend one hour a week with her baby, during which she is closely monitored by a social worker.
Last week, the Greenlandic Minister of Childhood, Aqqaluaq B. Egede, met in emergency the Danish Minister of Social Affairs and Housing, Sophie Hæstorp Andersen. At the end of this meeting, Aqqaluaq B. Egede said that she had promised to order the municipalities to stop using the test. But the declaration of the minister who followed, published Wednesday, November 20, did not lead to a pure and simple ban: “I would like to encourage municipalities in cases involving families of Greenlandic origin to consider concretely to stop using criticized tests.”
Lars SLOTH, director of the Childhood and Family Administration of the Municipality of Thisted, reacted: “The municipality still works in the best interests of the child and we closely follow the laws and directives in force.” Adding that in the absence of alternative tools, they will continue to use FKU tests.
