Largest worldwide protest against human rights abuses of children and families

April 16th

Hamilton is the first of 60 cities in 20 countries who will protest peacefully today, denouncing Norway’s Child Protection Services, called “Barnevernet”. The combined event is expected to break the Guinness World Record for the largest worldwide protest against human rights abuses of children and families. The protests will highlight Marius and Ruth Bodnariu, whose five small children were forcibly removed in November 2015, the youngest being only three months old and nursing. Marius was charged with assault, without evidence, due process or legal recourse. Supporters say that the Bodnarius were targeted for their traditional values and for Marius’ Romanian citizenship. A judge reversed the baby’s custody decision last week after five months. The elder children remain separated from each other in two foster homes and at risk of being placed for permanent adoption.

Thirty-eight other parents co-signed a letter to the European Commission in January, stating that Norway is “systematically acting in breach of its legal obligations” because children are “literally, ripped out of their parents’ hands” on “groundless accusation”. The signatories are from India, Brazil, Turkey, Lithuania, Norway and others. Most may only see their children for two to four hours per year. One mother had her children taken for cutting their toast too thick.

The New Zealand gathering is scheduled from 10:00 to 11:00 in Garden Place, Hamilton. It will include a reading of the global declaration of protest and a display of shoes signifying the ages at which the Bodnariu children were forcibly removed.

“I am compelled to act,” says Paula Salisbury, a mother and the organizer of the Hamilton demonstration. “Children belong to the family. If ordinary Norwegian parents are being silenced, ordinary parents elsewhere will have to yell for them.”

#BODNARIUFAMILY https://www.facebook.com/Norway-Return-the-children-to-Bodnariu-Family

ENDS

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