The treatment by the Norwegian child protection services (CPS) and police of a German / Ukrainian family

In the middle of November 2015 a German-Ukrainian family from Bergen, whose two daughters had been taken by the CPS and had for 6 months or so been placed in a temporary, emergency foster home in Moss south of Oslo, managed to get hold of the children and drive out of the country.

They evidently used their own car driving south, though. When children have been taken by the CPS or are even under their attention, such items as the number of the family's car will be registered by the border posts and ferry companies. This family's car number "plinged" when they passed the border to Sweden and Denmark, and they were taken by the Danish police down on Fyn (the island between Copenhagen and Jutland, where they were headed to drive down to Germany).

The Danish police cooperate willingly and totally without misgivings with Norway, of course. The parents were arrested and the daughters returned to the Norwegian CPS. The CPS lawyer said that this was an extremely serious offence on the part of the parents. The parents were put in detention in Denmark, and were intended to remain imprisoned until extradited to Norway. – Lots of newspaper articles about the case, of a 'cops-and-robbers' type, entirely sympathetic to the authorities:

Etterlyser sort bil etter at to barn ble bortført i Moss (A wanted notice out for a black car after two children have been abducted in Moss)
Østlandets Blad, 12 November 2015 at 11:21 a.m.

Dansk politi: - Glad for å kunne hjelpe jentene (Danish police: - Glad to be able to help the girls)
abc News, 12 November 2015, at 7:21 p.m.

A couple of days later something has changed.

The legislation making it illegal to take one's children out of Norway when they have been taken by the cnild protection services on a 'temporary, emergency measure' which has not yet been confirmed by the County Committee or a court, has not yet been implemented. It seems to have passed through the parliament for legislation, but is not yet in effect (this sometimes takes a while). (Cf sections 3 and 4 here: Lithuanian boy . . and here: Parliamentary proposal of criminalising . .).

So, the Norwegian police at first called on the Danish police to arrest the parents and send the children back to the emergency placement in Norway (the 'emergency' had already lasted for 6 months), which the Danish police duly did. Then the Norwegian police sat down to look at the law and came to the conclusion that what the couple had done was not illegal. So they told Denmark to let the parents out of jail again.

The tragedy is that there is no question of the children being given back to the parents, of course; it is taken for granted that the children were 'saved' by being sent back to the CPS. I expect the children are now moved to a secret address and kept strictly from communicating with their parents or others who could pass on information.

Foreldrene skal slippes fri (The parents are to be set free)
De to foreldrene som ble arrestert på Fyn etter å ha tatt med seg barna sine fra Moss sist torsdag har ikke gjort noe straffbart, har politiet funnet ut. (The two parents who were arrested on Fyn after having taken their children with them from Moss last Thursday were not doing anything illegal, is what the police have found out.)
nrk Østfold, 16 November 2015

"Planen var å hente de to foreldrene i morgen, avhøre dem og fremstille dem for varetektsfengsling. Barna er tilbake hos Barnevernet." (The plan was to fetch the two parents tomorrow, take them for questioning and ask the court to put them in jail pending trial. The children are back with the child protective services.)

"Det er fremmet et lovendringsforslag for Straffelovens §261 for Stortinget, som sannsynligvis vil gjøre dette straffbart på nyåret." (A change to the Criminal law §261 has been proposed in Parliament, which will probably make it criminal over the New Year.)

Fremskrittspartiet (The Progress Party) was, 15-20 years ago, the one party that, under the leadership of parliamentary representative John Alvheim in such matters, took the side of CPS victims. They even presented a parliamentary proposal to amend the law and several matters of practice connected with the CPS in 1995/96 (it was turned down with contempt by the other parties, of course). Around 2005, however, they had completely changed their tune and are now as cruel as everyone else. The ministry concerned with CPS matters even have the cabinet secretary, and she is just about the worst I can remember, is apparently unable to think for herself and does and says exactly what her ministry's bureaucrats instruct her to say. – Here we have a rather triumphant parliament member of the Progress Party 'promising' that even tighter dictatorship is coming very soon:

– Vi tetter smutthull i loven (We are closing loopholes in the law)
Det skal bli slutt på at foreldre lovlig kan bortføre barna til utlandet etter at Barnevernet har gjort akuttvedtak, sier Ulf Leirstein i Stortingets justiskomité. (There is going to be an end to parents being legally able to abduct the children to another country after the CPS has made an emergency decision, says Ulf Leirstein in the parliamentary justice committee.)
nrk Østfold, 17 November 2015

  

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