On 7 October 2012, abc nyheter had an article about a demonstration outside the Norwegian embassy in Colombo on Sri Lanka. One of the complaints of the demonstrators was that Tamil children in Norway are denied the right to speak their mother tongue:
– Demonstrasjon utenfor den norske ambassaden på Sri Lanka (Demonstration outside the Norwegian embassy on Sri Lanka)
En gruppe srilankere hevder norske myndigheter har fratatt tamilske foreldre barna med makt, uten gyldig grunn. UD kjenner til saken. (A group of Sri Lankans claim that Norwegian authorities have taken the children away from their Tamil parents forcibly, without legitimate reason. The Foreign Ministry knows the case.)
abc nyheter, 7 October 2012
The embassy on Sri Lanka denies this and other complaints – of course – and comes up with one of the usual statements:
"I en redegjørelse forklarer de inngående hvordan det norske barnevernet fungerer.
– Barnevernsloven er klar på at barnevernet har et ansvar for å gripe inn dersom barnet er utsatt for omsorgsvikt, skriver ambassaden.
Ambassaden tilbakeviser også en rekke av anklagene fra demonstrantene, blant annet at barna ikke får snakke morsmålet sitt."(In a statement they explain carefully how Norwegian child protection functions.
– The statute relating to child protection is clear regarding the responsibility of the CPS to act if the child is subject to care failure, the embassy writes.
The embassy also denies a number of allegations from the demonstrators, e.g. that the children are not allowed to speak their mother tongue.)Mr Oddbjørn Hauge was the spokesman of the Ministry then too (cf
what he said about Russian allegations). In relation to Sri Lanka he said:
"Barne-, likestillings- og inkluderingsdepartementet har også vært i diaolog med ambassaden.
– Vi er kjent med at det har vært reaksjoner i det tamilske miljøet mot norsk barnevern. På fredag hadde embetsverket i departementet et møte med en representant fra ambassaden. Det ble gitt litt generell informasjon om norsk barnevern, hvordan saker behandles og foreldrenes rettssikkerhet, sier ekspedisjonssjef Oddbjørn Hauge til ABC Nyheter."(The Ministry of children, equality and inclusion has been in a dialogue with the embassy [Presumably Sri Lanka's embassy in Norway?].
– We are aware that there have been reactions in Tamil circles against Norwegian child protection. On Friday the Civil Service in the Ministry had a meeting with a representative from the embassy. They were given some general information about Norwegian child protection, about how cases are handled and about the legal safeguards for the parents, says the Director General of the section of the Ministry concerned, Oddbjørn Hauge, to ABC News.)