The United Nations has warned Denmark that the treatment of a Greenlandic mother whose newborn child was removed by Danish authorities may amount to ethnic discrimination. Keira Alexandra Kronvold's daughter, Zammi, was taken away when she was two hours old in November 2024 after Kronvold was subjected to parental competence tests, known as FKU tests. She was told the test was to see if she was 'civilised enough'.
The FKU tests, criticised for years as culturally unsuitable for Greenlandic people, were banned by the Danish government last May following widespread outrage over Kronvold's case. On Friday, Kronvold will appear in the Danish high court in an attempt to regain custody of her child. She is believed to be one of dozens of Inuit women in Denmark separated from their children after undergoing the discredited tests.
In a letter sent last month, UN special rapporteurs, including Reem Alsalem, expressed concern over the 'disproportionate impact of FKU assessment on Greenlandic parents, which may amount to ethnic discrimination'. The officials said the removal of Kronvold's children without consent 'may be discriminatory and disproportionate', citing disrespect to her reproductive choices and causing psychological suffering.
Alsalem noted that Indigenous women often face intersecting human rights violations, disrupting their family units and cultural lives. She welcomed the ban on FKU tests but stressed that those affected should have access to justice. Kronvold remains separated from her daughter, now nearly 18 months old, and is only allowed supervised visits.
Kronvold said: 'I am not allowed to be connected with my daughter as I should as a mother. She has to make a connection to the foster parents and it hurt me so much that she called them Mum and Dad.' Her lawyer, Jeanette G., is representing her in the ongoing legal battle.
