Alfred Dam, now 95, has spoken out about child abuse in Danish media in recent years. Photo: KNR / Ann-Sofie Greve Møller ©
Alfred Dam was the head of Greenland's social services in the late 1960s and repeatedly encountered mothers whose children had been adopted without their knowledge.
During Alfred Dam's tenure as the head of Greenland's social services from 1966 to 1971, Greenlandic mothers often approached him to see their children. However, after looking into the circumstances of each case, it often turned out that the children had been adopted by Danish families, making it impossible for the mothers to see their children again.
Mothers signed documents for the adoption of their children by strangers without understanding the conditions of the adoption, says Alfred Dam.
In June 2024, the Danish government announced that it would be providing a total of 1 million Danish kroner in compensation to four Greenlanders who were adopted illegally during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The case was handled by lawyer Mads Pramming of Ehmer Pramming Advocate. The lawyer notes that another 15 cases are pending.
In recent years, there have been media reports on the illegal adoption of Greenlandic children, but the exact number of children illegally adopted is still unknown. Alfred Dam estimates that there were hundreds of cases of children being adopted illegally during his tenure as director of social services in Greenland. This was partly due to the underdeveloped legal terminology in the Greenlandic language, which led to many mothers not fully understanding the meaning of adoption. Cultural differences also contributed to this: due to various circumstances, children in Greenland are often taken away from family members or others for long periods of time. In such cases, they are raised in other families as "gifts", but still maintain contact with their parents.
Alfred Dam noticed that many Danes wanted to adopt Greenlandic children, and approached him as an official with requests to do so.
In the 1960s, the Mødrehjælpen network of child adoptions was established in Greenland under an agreement with the Danish government, with the Nuuk office serving as the centre of the organisation. Greenland's population grew rapidly in the 1950s and 1960s, with the birth rate peaking in 1966 with 1,781 births. Alfred Dam says that Danish hospital or municipal staff acted as coordinators between mothers and Mødrehjælpen or adoptive parents.
Alfred Dam acknowledges that despite his efforts, he was unable to prevent many illegal adoptions from taking place during his tenure. He feels disappointed at not being successful in many cases.
We took steps to prevent this. I am of course disappointed that I was not successful in many cases, he says. When we found out that an adoption was taking place, we stopped it and did not allow employees of daycare centers or other institutions to cooperate in the adoption process, and also instructed them not to do so, he says.
He did not want to say today who was responsible for illegal adoptions, but he understands that victims of child abuse today are suffering.
Source: KNR
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