State Custody Put into Perspective

 

What does International Law say about forceful separation of children and parents?

While it is being discussed how the great number of children in Norway are doing in foster care, please take a look at how the international community looks at forceful separation of children from their parents.
In Norway, for years , we have seen examples of children taken from their parents by force, to stay with strangers, employed by the state.
The same has been done to indigenous people in many parts of the world, under the excuse of the best interest of the child.
Travellers and Gypsies have a horriffic history testifying forceful separation of families.
 In England, children were sent to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Africa as a part of a public practice now referred to as "Home Children". The practice began in the 1600s and flourished until the 1900. Australia has now apologized for their involvement in this brutal policy, and in February, 2010, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered a formal apology to the families who suffered under the practice.
Under General Franco in Spain, children of political opponents were abducted from their families until  the 1980s.

Forceful child-removal was also a goverment plan during the period referred to as "the Dirty War" in Argentina from 1976 to 1983.

 

What does International Law say about separating children from their familes?

 

According to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, it is required that every possible attempt is done to ensuring that children can remain with their family; parents, grandparents or extended family. Already in 2006, the UN criticisized the fact that too many children in Norway are in foster care . Guidelines were given on how to offer assistance to support the home-life.
After 2006 the grim situation of foster-care placements has escalated, and no attempts to comply with the UN guide-lines  have been observed.
One can point out research, as attourney Sverre Kvilhaug's publications of separation injury, or U.S. research results showing that it is directly harmful for children to be separated from their families.

 

But isn't it widely accepted fact, on the basis of a human, emotional point of view, that the worst fear for a child is to lose his og her parents? Isn't it the worst nightmare imaginable for a parent to experience the loss of a child?
Is it a universal human feeling, an instinct, to belong to one's own family?
Hasn't everybody a story, from their own lives or someone else's, about how death can separate family members, traumatising the survivors with immersive wounds and grief that can last a lifetime?
Are there crimes possible, worse than separating a child from his og hers family?

 

No, says International Law.
According to The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and the International Covenant on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, forceful removal of a child from one group to another, is defined as the worst possible criminal acts; genocide.
Further the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court confirms that everyone with the complicity or support to this practice, are personally responsible for their actions.
The systematic state policy of child abduction as Spain witnessed, referred to as "The Lost Children of Francoism," was found constituting "Crimes Against Humanity", the perpetrators punished, and compensatiosn were required to be paid to the victims. The government leader during  "The Dirty War" in Argentina, who oversaw the state policy of child abductions, was sentenced to 50 years in prison for child-snatching.
In a democracy, the authorities are not allowed to offend or to hurt people, createa climate of fear or compromise the privacy of the citizens. This fact is underlined by the Universal Declaration of Human rights, as well the UN treaties. Norway has signed all the relevant UN treaties, but regularly we witness systematicly and extensively occuring abuses.

 

Are we blindly accepting this?

 

It is through international pressure, that infringing national practices have been changed, historically. We have in modern history witnessed the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the apartheid regime in South Africa, and China loosening the one-child policy.
It is possible that the part of Norwegian population that has been subjected to abuse of power by the authorities, to stand up and tell the international community about the injustice.