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Oslo 8 January 2016,
revised 10 January, additions 10 January –
Marianne Haslev Skånland:
Demonstrations abroad against Norwegian child protection (CPS) – Barnevernet
Planned demonstrations:
8 January USA - Washington DC
8 January Britain - London
8 January Spain – Barcelona
8 January Denmark – Copenhagen
8 January Ireland – Dublin
9 January Romania - Bucharest, Timisoara, Constanta, Cluj
9 January Belgium - Brussels
9 January Germany - Frankfurt
9 January Canada - Ottawa
9 January Italy – Rome, Torino
9 January Netherlands – Hague
10 January Spain - Madrid
16 January The Czech Republic - Prague
16 January Latvia – Riga
16 January Russia – Moscow
16 January Austria – Vienna
17 January India - New Delhi, Kolkata
23 January Slovakia - Bratislava
30 January Poland - Warsaw
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Even if only some of these demonstrations take place, it should be considered very good. We must keep our eyes open and hope for reports, preferably in foreign media.
Here in Norway there was a demonstration in Oslo on Tuesday 5 January, with about 40-50 people (very good in this cold weather!).
Protest in Oslo
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8 January 2016, at 5:50 pm
The national broadcasting nrk had a coverage in the radio program "Her og Nå" (Here and now) which runs between 5 and 6 pm. The part of the program dealing with Norwegian Barnevernet was about 9 minutes long. The first part spoke of the demonstrations and interviewed a CPS representative from Naustdal, the municipality where five children have been taken from the family Bodnariu (The five children of a Rumanian-Norwegian family taken by Barnevernet), the second part was an interview with the Norwegian ambassador in Lithuania, who told the listeners about the upset over Norwegian CPS in Lithuania for months.
The program stated that there have been invitations to demonstrations in five countries today, in London, Washington DC, Barcelona, Dublin og Copenhagen.
The CPS say they do not believe the foreigners know how the Norwegian statute regulating child protection works, they will (again) send out information in English, and 'try to explain' the Norwegian system. The ambassador in Lithuania complains (again) that the foreigners do not want to listen to this "information". An embassy secretary in Washington thinks that incorrect information is circulating.
The CPS locally in Naustdal have received heaps of postcards etc, and the administrative head of the municipal administration finds the situation so unpleasant that he will have the police monitor websites here in Norway which he thinks spread smear-campaigns on the edge of illegality.
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8 January 2016, at 7 pm
There is a report from Washington DC:
Fleire hundre demonstrerte i Washington mot norsk barnevern (Several hundred people demonstrated in Washington against Norwegian child protection)
– Fleire hundre demonstrantar samla seg i dag ved den norske ambassaden i Washington som ein protest mot ei barnevernsak frå Sogn og Fjordane. Dei overleverte fleire tusen underskrifter til ambassaden.
(Several hundred demonstrators gathered today at the Norwegian Embassy in Washington as a protest against a child protection case from the county of Sogn og Fjordane. They delivered several thousand signatures of protest to the Embassy.)
nrk (the national broadcasting co) in Sogn og Fjordane, 8 January 2016
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9 January 2016, 11 am –
In connection with the demonstrations yesterday 8 January 2016:
The demonstrations have been a great success so far. The Facebook group gives the following numbers of supporters:
Washington: 700+ in front of the Norwegian Embassy in Washington DC, USA
Protest in Washington
London: 1200 in front of the Norwegian Embassy in London, England
Protest in London
Barcelona: 150+ in front of the Norwegian Consulate in Barcelona, Spain
Protest in Barcelona
Copenhagen: 30+ in front of the Norwegian Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark
Protest in Copenhagen
Video
Dublin: 600 in front of the Norwegian Embassy in Dublin, Ireland
Protest in Dublin
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Here we have "a toddler" Cipri Tom who has placed an appeal on the facebook page of FrP (the Progress Party, which has the cabinet minister whose department is boss of the CPS!):
Please help STOP Bernevernet Norway kidnap children from their parents!
Fremskrittspartiet FrP, 8 January 2016
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Regjeringa følgjer demonstrasjonane tett
(The government monitors the demonstrations closely)
Fleire demonstrasjonar er varsla i dag. Regjeringa har tett kontakt med rumenske myndigheiter i samband med dei store demonstrasjonane mot ei norsk barnevernssak. (More demonstrations are scheduled for today. The government has close contact with Romanian authorities in connection with the large demonstrations against a Norwegian CPS case.)
nrk (the national broadcasting) in Sogn og Fjordane, 9 January 2016
"PROTEST I DUBLIN: Ifølgje arrangøren var kring 600 menneske samla utanfor den norske ambassaden i demonstrasjon mot barnevernet.
FOTO: STØTTEGRUPPA SI FACEBOOK-SIDE/DANIEL CATANA"
(PROTEST IN DUBLIN: According to the arranging committee, about 600 people gathered outside the Norwegian Embassy in demonstration against the CPS.
Photo: The facebook page of the committee supporting the family / Daniel Catana)
! ! Ah, indeed, photo taken from the support group – the national Norwegian broadcasting co has stopped using only state-subservient sources?
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Fleire hundre demonstrerte i Washington mot norsk barnevern
(Several hundred demonstrated in Washington against Norwegian CPS)
Fleire hundre demonstrantar samla seg i dag ved den norske ambassaden i Washington som ein protest mot ei barnevernsak frå Sogn og Fjordane. Dei overleverte fleire tusen underskrifter til ambassaden.
(Several hundred demonstrators gathered today at the Norwegian Embassy in Washington as a protest against a child protection case from the county of Sogn og Fjordane. They delivered several thousand signatures of protest to the Embassy.)
nrk (the national broadcasting) in Sogn og Fjordane, 8 January 2016
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9-10 January 2016
Reports and photos from the demonstrations on 9 January 2016:
The results are beginning to come in. Most numbers are by reports from the support group.
Timisoara, Romania: 1000 people (place not given)
Protest in Timisoara
Video
Rome: (Number of people not given) on Piazza Santa Prisca in Rome, Italy
Protest in Rome
Video
Bucharest, Romania: 2,500+ near the Norwegian Embassy in Bucharest, Romania
Protest in Bucharest
Video (It is not entirely clear whether this video is from Bucharest or from Brussels)
Constanta: 400 in Constanta, Romania
Protest in Constanta
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Massedemonstrasjoner mot norsk barnevern i 19 land
(Mass demonstrations against Norwegian CPS in 19 countries)
Flere tusen mennesker demonstrerte mot norsk barnevern i Romania lørdag. Denne måneden holdes det nitten demonstrasjoner mot norske ambassader på tre kontinenter i forbindelse med en omstridt barnevernssak.
(Several thousand people demonstrated against Norwegian child protection in Romania on Saturday. This month there will be nineteen demonstrations against Norwegian embassies on three continents in connection with a controversial child protection case.)
VG, 9 January 2016
The article brings interview with ambassadors and authorities etc. Their attitude is all the time that what is missing is for the foreigners to "understand". When Norway informs them, other countries will understand, they believe. Their thoughts are free from any idea that Norway's child protection may in fact be doing something radically wrong – may really, in actual fact, be an abuser.
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Ottawa: Several dozen in front of the Norwegian Embassy in Ottawa, Canada
Protest in Ottawa
Romanian-Canadians protest Norway's seizure of 5 children in dispute
Ottawa Citizen, 9 januar 2016
Brussels: Almost 1000 in front of the Norwegian Embassy in Brussels, Belgium
Protest in Brussels
Torino: 400 at the Piazza Vittorio i Torino, Italia
Protest in Torino
Hague: 100 people in front of the Norwegian Embassy in The Hague, The Netherlands
Protest in The Hague
Cluj: 500+ gathered in the centre of Cluj, Romania
Hundreds rally in several cities urging Norwegian authorities return Bodnariu children
Agerpres, Romanian National New Agency, 9 January 2016
Frankfurt: Almost 300 in the centre of Frankfurt, Germany
Protest in Frankfurt
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