Danish treatment of Greenlandic mother may be ‘ethnic discrimination’, says UN | Denmark

The United Nations has warned Denmark that the treatment of a Greenlandic mother whose newborn child was removed by Danish authorities as a result of controversial parental competency tests “may amount to ethnic discrimination”.

Keira Alexandra Kronvold’s daughter, Zammi, was taken from her when she was two hours old and placed in foster care after Kronvold underwent PKU (parental competence) psychometric tests in November 2024. He was told at the time that the test was to see if he was “civilized enough”.

On Friday, Kronvold, whose case sparked widespread outrage and contributed to Denmark’s later decision to ban the use of such tests, will go to Denmark’s supreme court in a final attempt to regain custody of her child.

She is understood to be one of dozens of Inuit women living in Denmark who were separated from their children after undergoing discredited testing.

It has been revealed that Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, has written to the government asking it to answer questions about the treatment of Kronvold and other families of Greenlandic origin, in a move that will increase pressure on Copenhagen.

Alsalem, who wrote the letter with the U.N. special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples and the special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, said Thursday that he and his colleagues had reason to believe “human rights violations are occurring.”

Denmark governed Greenland as a colony until 1953, and despite the Arctic island’s now largely autonomous status, people of Greenlandic origin in Denmark say they still face systematic discrimination.

The PKU tests, which campaigners have criticized for years as culturally inappropriate for Greenlanders and other minorities, were seen as a particularly striking example of this before they were abruptly canceled by the Danish government last May.

In the letter sent late last month, UN officials said they expressed concern about the “disproportionate impact of the PKU assessment on Greenlandic parents, which could lead to ethnic discrimination.”

Alsalem added: “While we welcome the decision not to use such tests for Greenlandic parents in the future, those subject to decisions using the PKU assessment must have access to justice and remedies.”

A year after the law changed, Kronvold remains estranged from her daughter, who is now almost 18 month and lives with a Danish family. She is only allowed to spend short periods of time with her daughter under supervision.

UN officials said Kronvold’s decision to take her children from her without her consent “may have been discriminatory and disproportionate”, noting that “her decisions regarding her reproductive and contraceptive choices have been blatantly disrespected over the years, causing her tremendous psychological pain.”

“In this context, we are reminded of the fact that Indigenous women and girls are often subjected to multifaceted and complex, mutually reinforcing human rights violations, including in sexual and reproductive health services and childbirth,” Alsalem said.

“Such intersecting forms of discrimination and violence experienced by Indigenous women and girls also disrupt their spiritual and cultural lives and impact the core of their family units and the social fabric of their communities and nations.”

Alsalem said he would monitor the outcome of Kronvold’s case and how Danish authorities respond before deciding on further action.

“In the meantime, I hope that the authorities will give due attention to the concerns we have raised, especially regarding Denmark’s binding human rights obligations,” he added.

For Kronvold, the consequences of his separation from Zammi were devastating.

“I’m not allowed to connect with my daughter the way I should as a mother. She needs to connect with foster parents and that upset me so much that she called them mom and dad,” she said.

Kronvold hopes her case and the UN’s intervention will lead to change for her and other Greenlanders who were separated from their children by Danish authorities. He said the PKU tests should be “erased” and the law should be changed to better protect Inuit people.

Kronvold’s lawyer, Jeanette Gjørret, who specializes in children’s rights from the law firm Stage, said the case in the high court was symbolic and could help other Greenlandic parents.

“There are a lot of parents in the same situation, so we want the high court to look at the case and see: was it? [the use of the tests] right or wrong? said Gjørret.

A general election was held in Denmark in March and the parties have not yet formed a government.

In response to a request for comment, Denmark’s social affairs ministry confirmed receipt of the UN letter but added: “Denmark does not currently have a government and is currently unable to respond to the investigation.”