Protests as newborn removed from Greenlandic mother after 'parenting competence' tests

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/23/protests-as-newborn-removed-from-greenlandic-mother-after-parenting-competence-tests

Protests as newborn removed from Greenlandic mother after ‘parenting competence’ tests

Danish authorities take one-hour-old infant despite law banning the tests on people with Greenlandic backgrounds

Miranda Bryant Nordic correspondent
Sat 23 Aug 2025 07.00 EDT

A Greenlandic mother’s one-hour-old baby was removed from her by Danish authorities after she underwent “parenting competence” tests – despite a new law banning the use of the controversial psychometric assessments on people with Greenlandic backgrounds.

Ivana Nikoline Brønlund, who was born in Nuuk to Greenlandic parents and has played for the Greenlandic handball team, gave birth to her daughter, Aviaja-Luuna, on 11 August in a hospital in Hvidovre, near Copenhagen, where she lives with her family.

An hour later, the local municipality took the infant into foster care. Brønlund, 18, says she has since only seen her daughter once, for an hour, when she was not allowed to comfort the baby or change her nappy.

The “parenting competence” tests, known as FKU (forældrekompetenceundersøgelse), were banned on people with Greenlandic backgrounds earlier this year after years of criticism by campaigners and human rights bodies, who argued successfully that the tests were racist because they were culturally unsuitable for people from Inuit backgrounds. As the law came into force in May, campaigners are asking why Brønlund was still subjected to a test.

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