Another Romanian family living in Norway had their children taken by local authorities
The case of Marius and Ruth Bodnariu, a Romanian-Norwegian family living in Norway whose children had been taken by the Norwegian social services has stirred many reactions and protests in Romania and abroad. However, it seems that several other Romanian families living in Norway are in similar situations, but they have been too afraid to speak up.
The Nan family is such an example. The Norwegian child protection services (Barnevernet) took the family’s two children in late-October last year and placed them in a foster home. This happened before Bodnariu’s case, reports Romanian newspaper Adevarul.ro.
Mihaela and Dumitru Nan were born in Romania’s Maramures region and moved to Norway five years ago. They’ve managed to make a decent life there, earning enough to raise their two children: Bianca (7 years old) and Dragos (18 months old).
On October 27, 2015, the two parents were taken and interrogated by the police for several hours. After the questioning, two employees of the Norwegian social services told the Nan family that their little girl had said that she had been beaten. As a result, they were informed that they no longer had the right to keep their children. The Romanian family still doesn’t know who made the complaint to the Norwegian authorities.
Dumitru Nan says he has never beat his daughter and that he used to grant her every wish. However, he recalls that one day the girl told her parents that one day she would go to another house and take her brother with her but they didn't mind her words.
The Nans told the Norwegian authorities that they were willing to leave everything behind and return to Romania just to be able to get reunited with their little ones.
A new hearing in this case will take place on January 20. According to Adevarul.ro, Dumitru Nan also encountered difficulties in finding a defense counsel. They’ve had a total of three lawyers during the case, after having several problems with them. For example, one of the lawyers just stopped answering their calls.
Dumitru and Mihaela Nan have the right to see their children two hours a week. According to Dumitru Nan, the meetings take place in a hotel room, in the presence of social services employees.
Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com
