On 8 January, when similar demonstrations were taking place in other capital cities worldwide, more than 500 people met outside the Norwegian embassy in Belgrave Square, London, to protest against the removal of five children from a Christian family in Norway on grounds of ‘Christian indoctrination’.
The demonstrators were mainly Romanian Christians out to support the Romanian/Norwegian Bodnariu family, whose children were removed by the Barnevernet (Norwegian child welfare services) in November (see January en).
A number of pastors made impassioned speeches and prayers that moved protestors to tears. Questions were raised on the legality and reasoning behind the Barnevernet’s actions, as the Bodnarius’s case is by no means a lone one: thousands of immigrant children in Norway have reportedly been removed from families, many for seemingly questionable reasons.
