Somali refugee wins second case against Norway over forced adoption
Mariya Abdi Ibrahim has won another case in December 2021 where the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found that the Norwegian authorities failed to take into account the boy’s religious and cultural background, when placing him in a context where continuation of his cultural and religious origins would not be possible. This decision follows Mariya Abdi Ibrahim’s first case before the ECtHR in 2019 which led to changes to Norway’s regulations around adoption. It was held in this first case that the right to “family life” of Ibrahim, a Muslim refugee from Somalia was violated when her 10-month-old son was removed from her by the Norwegian Child Welfare Services and placed with a Norwegian couple who were members of the Evangelical Mission Covenant Church. The ECtHR found in the case that “insufficient weight attached to mother and child’s mutual interest in maintaining family ties and personal relations through contact.” Child Identity Protection (CHIP) welcomes this decision as it promotes the child’s right to identity in family relations as well as more broadly cultural identity.
