The Ombudsman was notified ex officio on the case of the five children taken away from Romanian Bodnariu family in Norway. “The Ombudsman addressed to the Norway Kingdom’s National Ombudsman and to the Norwegian Child Ombudsman to get clarifications,” reads a press release on Wednesday.
The children have been taken over by the Norwegian authorities due on alleged religious grounds. Moreover, the Norwegian authorities suspect that Bodnariu children receive physical corrections from their parents. Norwegian social services have opened the international adoption procedure for them.
The Romanian Ombudsman claims that as the father of the children is Romanian, his children are also Romanian citizens, despite the fatc their mother is Norwegian and they all live in Norway.
On Novemer 16, Norways’ Child Protection Body, Barnevernet took the eldest daughters of the couple from school without informing their parents. Few hours later, the authorities came to Bodnariu house and, in the absence of the father, also took the other two boys, leaving the mother with the 3-month-old baby.
The next day, they came back to the house and, accompanied by four police officers, also took the baby, claiming the mother is dangerous. According to the Ombudsman, they presented no official document for that. Moreover, the father was arrested for “child abuse”.
The Romanian Ombudsman claims the way the Norwegian authorities have acted is contradicting article 99 of the Norway’s Constitution, which stipulates that “no person can be detained without warrant, except for the cases determined by the law.”
“In this case, it’s possible there were power and law abuses committed by the child protection authorities. At the same time, it’s possible that international norms on human rights could be broken,” reads the press release.
Read further details on this case here: http://www.romaniajournal.ro/update-protest-at-the-embassy-of-norway-for-a-romanian-family-whose-children-were-taken-by-the-norwegian-authorities/