Eight adopted children require millions in compensation from the state for violations of their human rights.
DR-Inland in Denmark
Friday, November 29, 2024 • 10:00 AM UTC - in Denmark
It was known to Danish adoption agencies that their South Korean partners altered the identities of children before they were sent to their new families in Denmark.
A report from the Danish Agency for Data Protection (Datatilsynet) at the beginning of the year (
Approximately 9,000 children were adopted from South Korea to Denmark - it is the country from which Denmark has adopted the most children throughout history.
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Factbox: Danish adoption agencies and supervision
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In Denmark, there have been several adoption agencies over the years.
Terre des Hommes started adopting children from non-Nordic countries in 1979 but closed in 2000 following revelations of falsified medical records.
AC Børnehjælp and DanAdopt started in the late 1970s and are the agencies that have facilitated the most adoptions to Denmark. Both agencies closed in 2014 due to various scandal cases, including allegations of using child recruiters in Ethiopia.
In the wake of these closures, adoption bureau Danish International Adoption (DIA) was established in 2015 with promises of "a new start" for the adoption sector.
DIA closed definitively in October of this year, after it was revealed that the adoption agency had deliberately circumvented Danish and international regulations.
The Danish authority responsible for supervising international adoptions has changed over the years. In 1970-1981, it was the Civil Rights Directorate that supervised AC Børnehjælp and DanAdopt. The Ministry of Justice took over supervision in 1982.
Since 2016, the Danish Agency for Data Protection (Datatilsynet) has been responsible for full supervision of international adoptions to Denmark.
All international adoption is currently on hold.
Sources: Danish Agency for Data Protection and DIA
The eight adopted individuals argue that they have been denied the opportunity to grow up with their biological families and to know their background and identity on a false pretext.
And it might be hard to understand how it feels to live with that, says the initiator of the reparations case, Gitte Mose, who was adopted from South Korea in 1982:
- These rights violations are irreversible, and they are conditions we who were adopted must live with for the rest of our lives. The state must take responsibility for this, she and further explains:
- I have spoken with many adopted people over the years, and there were countless similar stories from South Korea about falsified papers and parents who were denied access to their children. It gave me the feeling that it just couldn't be right that we were treated that way.
Gitte Mose was adopted to Denmark through adoption agency Korean Social Services (KSS), which now refuses to release information about her biological mother. (Photo: [© (private photo)])
Gitte Mose has repeatedly tried to obtain information that was not included in the adoption papers she received in Denmark but is mentioned in the Korean papers. Among other things, she wants to know her biological mother's name.
- These details are very important to me because they have significant meaning for my identity.
In the reparations case, it is argued that there have been violations of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects the right to private life and family life.
- For me personally, it is also a question of acknowledging the wrongs that have been done, says Eva Tind.
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What is Article 8?
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Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to private life and family life. It states that everyone has the right to have their private life, home, and correspondence respected. This means that authorities should not interfere in people's private matters without a good reason, and everyone has the right to protect their family relationships.
However, there are exceptions: authorities can intervene if necessary for reasons such as national security, public order, or to protect other people.
The Convention is a binding international treaty that protects fundamental human rights in Europe.
Source: Legal Information
If the Justice Ministry rejects the demand for reparations, the next step for the adopted individuals and Pramming Law Firm would be to sue the state. But Lisa Dalgas Christensen hopes that it won't come to a lengthy trial at the courts:
- It wouldn't be fair to put our clients through that, considering they have already been traumatized at such an early stage in their lives. Many of them are still deeply affected by it every day, she says and adds:
- Our clients find it disturbing that the Danish state does not come forward with an apology.
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Could lead to more cases
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In October, Social and Housing Minister Sophie Hæstorp Andersen (S) was asked by DR whether she was prepared to offer an apology to Danish adoptees. The minister would not answer the question. (
It is uncertain when a decision will be made in the reparations case. Lisa Dalgas Christensen tells us that there may be more reparations cases coming from other adopted individuals in the future.
- South Korea is not the only country where adoption practices have been highly criticized.
DR is working on obtaining a comment from the Ministry of Justice.
You can listen to the story of Mia Lee in this episode of Genstart, who was stolen from her mother at the hospital in South Korea and adopted to Denmark. Mia Lee is not part of the current reparations case.
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.