Eight adoptees are demanding millions in compensation from the state for violations of their human rights
The Danish state approved adoptions with forged papers and where there was no consent from the biological parents, says the lawyer.
For the first time in Danish history, adoptees from abroad to Denmark are demanding compensation from the Danish state for violations of their human rights.
The eight adoptees who are now demanding compensation are all adopted from South Korea and believe that the Danish authorities have not lived up to their responsibility to protect their rights.
This is what Lisa Dalgas Christensen, a lawyer at Pramming Advokater, who represents the adopted, says:
- Papers were falsified, and consent was not obtained from the biological parents. We believe that the Danish state was responsible for this, because it has approved our clients' adoptions, even though you have been familiar with this adoption procedure.
The compensation amount is two million kroner – that is, 250,000 kroner to each of the adoptees, if the state meets their demands.
We need to know whether the Danish state has been instrumental in these illegalities, and if they have, then there must be a consequence.Eva Tind, adopted from South Korea
Pramming Advokater submitted the claim for compensation to the Ministry of Justice this morning.
- We believe that our clients have a strong case. This is due, among other things, to the fact that there has been a highly criticized adoption practice from South Korea, says Lisa Dalgas Christensen.
Why is there a demand for a sum of money in the case?
- It is a plaster on the wound for our clients who have been exposed to traumatizing breaches and failures that have taken place under the supervision of the Danish state.
All eight came to Denmark in the period 1970-1982 and were adopted through the adoption agencies AC Børnehjælp or DanAdopt, which at the time were under the supervision of the Danish state.
One of them is author Eva Tind. She came to Denmark in 1975 as an "orphan". At least that's what her adoption papers said. However, it later turned out that her papers had been forged.
- I am involved in this case because right now it seems to be the only way I can get the truth out about what has happened in my history, she says and adds:
- We need to know whether the Danish state has been instrumental in these illegalities, and if they have, then there must be a consequence. Otherwise, it goes against my very basic sense of justice.
Eva Tind was adopted to Denmark as a 1-year-old on fabricated adoption papers. She hopes that the compensation claim can help to call out the Danish state in the pending adoption scandal. (Photo: © Natascha Rydvald (2023))
It was common knowledge for Danish adoption agencies that their South Korean partners changed the identity of children before they were sent to their new families in Denmark.
That was the conclusion of a report from the Danish Appeals Board at the beginning of the year , which uncovers adoptions from South Korea to Denmark in the period through the 1970s and 80s - and precisely that report is an important cornerstone in the compensation case, states Lisa Dalgas Christensen.
Around 9,000 adoptees have come to Denmark from South Korea - this is the country Denmark has adopted the most children from over time.
Factbox: The Danish adoption agencies and supervision
In Denmark, there have been several adoption agencies over time.
Terre des Hommes started adopting children from non-Nordic countries in 1979, but closed in 2000 after revelations about falsified medical records.
AC Børnehjælp and DanAdopt started in the late 1970s and are the agencies that have facilitated the most adoptions in Denmark. Both agencies closed in 2014 after several scandalous cases, including revelations about the use of child harvesters in Ethiopia.
In the wake of the closure, the adoption agency Danish International Adoption (DIA) emerged in 2015 with the promise of "a new start" for the adoption area.
DIA finally closed in October this year, after it emerged that the adoption agency deliberately circumvented Danish and international regulations in the area.
The Danish authority that oversees international adoptions has changed over the years. In 1970-1981, it was the Civil Rights Directorate that supervised AC Children's Aid and DanAdopt. The Ministry of Justice took over supervision in 1982.
Since 2016, the Danish Appeals Board has had full supervision of international adoptions to Denmark.
All international adoption is currently on hold.
Source: Danish Appeals Agency and DIA
The eight adoptees believe that they have been falsely deprived of the opportunity to grow up with their biological families and to know their background and identity.
And it might be difficult to understand what it's like to live with, says the initiator behind the compensation case, Gitte Mose, who was adopted from South Korea in 1982:
- The rights violations are irreversible, and these are conditions that we, as adoptees, live with for the rest of our lives. The state must take responsibility for this, she says and elaborates:
- I have spoken to many adoptees over the years, and there were an incredible number of similar stories from South Korea about forged papers and parents who have been robbed of their children. It gave me the feeling that it simply cannot be right that we have been treated that way.
Gitte Mose was adopted to Denmark through the adoption agency Korean Social Services (KSS), which now refuses to hand over information about Gitte's biological mother. (Photo: © (private photo))
Gitte Mose has repeatedly tried to gain access to information that was not in the adoption papers that came with her to Denmark, but that is stated in the Korean papers. Among other things, she wants to know the name of her biological mother.
- That information is very important to me because it is of great importance to my identity.
In the compensation case, it is argued for a breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is the "Right to respect for private and family life".
- For me personally, it is also a question of recognition of the breaks that have been in my history. They have had enormous consequences for my mother in South Korea and my parents in Denmark, says Eva Tind.
What is Article 8?
Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to private and family life. It states that everyone has the right to have their private life, home and correspondence respected. This means that authorities must not interfere in people's private affairs without a good reason, and that everyone has the right to protect their family relationships.
However, there are exceptions: the authorities can intervene in certain cases if it is necessary for e.g. 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 Ministry of Justice rejects the claim for compensation, the next step for the adoptees and Pramming Lawyers is to sue the state. But Lisa Dalgas Christensen does not hope that it will be a year-long case in the courts:
- It will not be fair to drag our clients through it when they have already been traumatized at such an early stage in life. Many of them are still very much affected by it to this day, she says and adds:
- Our clients also find it critical that the Danish state does not come up with an apology.
May lead to multiple cases
In October, DR Social and Housing Minister Sophie Hæstorp Andersen (S) asked if she was prepared to give Danish adoptees an apology. The minister would not answer that question.
It is unknown when a decision will be made in the compensation case. Lisa Dalgas Christensen says that in the future there may be more compensation cases on the way from other adoptees.
- South Korea is not the only country where adoption practices have been highly criticised.
DR has asked the Ministry of Justice for a comment. The Ministry of Justice refers to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing, which confirms to DR that the ministry has received claims for compensation from eight people and is 'in the process of looking into the matter.'
In this episode of Genstart, you can hear the story of Mia Lee, who was stolen from her mother in the hospital in South Korea and adopted to Denmark. Mia Lee is not involved in the current compensation case.
The article was updated on 2 December with a reaction from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing.